They're dancing again
Cajuns return to NCAA after rolling past Denver
DENTON, Texas - Robert Lee was right all along.
When Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns lost twice to the Denver Pioneers during the regular season, and then dropped a pair of road games in Arkansas to finish the season, he kept telling his team that the season would boil down to three games in Denton.
Lee's Cajuns came through when it mattered most, and until someone proves otherwise, they are still the basketball champions of the Sun Belt Conference.
The Cajuns stormed past Denver 88-69 in Tuesday's Sun Belt Tournament championship game to repeat as league champions and earn a second straight trip to the NCAA Tournament.
The triumph was especially sweet for Lee, who set a new school record for victories by a first-year coach with 20 and became the only coach in UL history to take his team to postseason in his initial season.
"My team, they played great for these three games," Lee said. "It was our most complete effort of the year over three games.
"We prepared for this moment all year long. I told them we needed to win three games in March."
"The General led us to victory," said junior Tiras Wade, a new face in a lineup of NCAA veterans who sparked the championship win with 30 points that included 21 in the second half and was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
"He got us to buy into his system and the respect was there. He's a players' coach, but not too much of a players' coach."
Wade, whose 82 points over three games set a tournament record, relished the idea of an NCAA berth after transferring to UL from East Tennessee State last year and watching the Cajuns get to celebrate a Sun Belt crown in Bowling Green.
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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
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