RENO, Nev. - The way his luck's been running, Robert Lee won't be spending his pregame hours at the craps table today.
The University of Louisiana basketball boss doesn't need Reno's casinos to tell him that he's in a rough streak, even though his Ragin' Cajuns have won two out of three and three of their last five.
His team was already facing long odds tonight against the 20th-ranked Nevada Wolf Pack, and he didn't need to lose another big man from the already-depleted frontcourt corps.
The Cajuns (3-6) face the 9-1 Wolf Pack at 9:05 p.m. (CST) tonight at Nevada's Lawlor Events Center, and will do so without backup postman Valentino Hart. The 6-foot-8 Hart was bumped off a flight and then weathered in on a flight back to Lafayette following UL's brief Christmas break.
That's not good considering the Cajuns are already without 6-foot-11 four-year starter Chris Cameron with a dislocated shoulder, and starting center Michael Southall (13.8, 6.8 rebounds) is still nursing a sore knee. And Nevada boasts 7-0 Chad Bell and 6-11 Nick Fazekas on its front line.
"Right now, I've got a black cat following me everywhere I go," said Lee. "I won't be doing any gambling out there ... I'd get my tail kicked."
The rest of the story
Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com