The Book: 2002-2003 Basketball (Ragin'Cajuns)

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Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - Experience is on the side of Louisiana's men's basketball squad.

No more talk about the youthfulness of the Ragin' Cajuns.

Nine of last year's top 11 scorers return from last year's 20-11 unit, and all nine of them started at one point during a campaign in which the Cajuns were 60 seconds away from a trip to the NCAA Tournament.

They got the consolation prize, an NIT tournament berth, and the players departed from that squad combined to average only 12.7 points per game. Australian newcomer Chris Cameron, now eligible, may get that many by himself.

But Jessie Evans has already sounded words of warning. Experience alone won't win the Sun Belt Conference this year.

"I was excited about my team and how many players we have returning," he said at the league's Media Day, "and then I got the conference media guide."

Nine of the 11 Sun Belt teams have four or more starters returning, an amazing number.

"There's a lot of parity in this league," said Evans, who enters his sixth year at the Cajun helm averaging over 18 wins per year in his career. "There are a number of teams that can make postseason play."

Count his UL Lafayette squad among them, especially if three key components - sophomore center Michael Southall, junior swingman Laurie Bridges and first-year sophomore forward Cedric Williams - survive their academic turmoil as expected.

That trio is ineligible for games prior to the end of the fall term, but will miss only two outings (Nov. 23 at Mississippi State and Nov. 27 at McNeese) if they fulfill classroom requirements and become part of a very deep team.

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Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - For the new players on the UL men's basketball squad, it's the big white building with the round top on Congress Street.

Until Monday afternoon, for some members of the Ragin' Cajun squad, that was the only significance the Cajundome has had since the start of the fall semester.

On Monday, the team was able to conduct practice in the facility for the first time, two days prior to the team's exhibition opener against the Slovakian national team.

"Our guys were excited just to get in here," said Cajun coach Jessie Evans after the team worked out for just under two hours Monday afternoon. "The floor's down the rest of this week, so I told them that every opportunity they had, they can come over and shoot some, get accustomed to the building, the atmosphere and the surroundings."

The Cajuns tip off their season at 7:05 p.m. Wednesday as part of a doubleheader with the Louisiana women's squad, which hosts Henderson State in a 4:30 p.m. exhibition opener.

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Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - Head coach Jessie Evans, and virtually everybody else in the Cajundome Wednesday night, heaped praise on the offensive performance of UL Lafayette's men's basketball squad.

Well they should, since the Ragin' Cajuns rang up 111 points in their exhibition opener.

Now, for defense ...

"Defensively, we have a lot of work to do," Evans said after his squad posted a 111-86 win over Sport Tours' Slovakia Select team. "I thought we did a fine job offensively and we're going to get better, but teams like that are going to stay right in it because they shoot the three so well."

The touring visitors gunned in 50.9 percent from the floor mostly from the perimeter, and Andrej Lukjanec had 45 points by himself including six three-pointers.

They couldn't keep pace with the Cajun gunners, though, especially in the second half when UL hit 23-of-40 shots from the floor and added eight more three-pointers to the seven they hit in the first 20 minutes.

"Coach has been pushing us offensively," said junior guard Brad Boyd, who nailed eight treys himself on the way to 31 points. "We're running more of a motion set with a lot of cutting to the hole and screening and not as much pattern offense."

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Advrtisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - Louisiana started its Saturday night exhibition basketball contest with an odd starting lineup and no sign of either Anthony Johnson or Brad Boyd.

It probably wouldn't have mattered against an outmanned Arkansas Tech squad if those two hadn't played at all, but when they hit the floor seven minutes into the action school was officially out for the visiting Wonderboys.

Boyd and Johnson teamed for 46 points in 52 minutes of playing time, and that and Chris Cameron's all-around floor game helped provide the Cajuns with a 95-74 victory in the last outing before the season begins for real next weekend.

Louisiana head coach Jessie Evans benched several of his regulars for a while on Saturday.

"We had several guys late getting to the weight room Thursday," he said, "and it's now getting to the time where you start paying a price for mistakes."

The unit of Cameron, forwards Chris Williams and Robert Davis, and guards Scooter Owens and Immanuel Washington played the game's first seven minutes and trailed 10-9 on Daniel Watson's three-point basket at the 13:25 mark.

That's when Boyd, Johnson and Kenneth Lawrence entered, . . .
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Advertisers-Dan McDonald

STARKVILLE, Miss. - The task would be a tall one under any circumstances for Louisiana's basketball squad.

The Ragin' Cajuns open their 2002-03 season tonight at 6 p.m. against 12th-ranked Mississippi State in MSU's Humphrey Coliseum, starting a string of three straight road games to tip off the campaign.

As if that wasn't enough of a challenge, the Cajuns will be without four key cogs when they meet the defending SEC Tournament champion Bulldogs.

Three players - sophomore center and returning All-Sun Belt Conference pick Michael Southall, junior guard and part-time starter Laurie Bridges and highly-regarded incoming sophomore forward Cedric Williams - are still academically ineligible and will remain so at least until the end of the fall semester.

Senior guard Robert Jupiter became the fourth absentee Thursday when he was arrested on charges stemming from an off-campus incident.

It could make for a long evening as the Cajuns open up efforts to improve on last year's 20-11 record and trip to the NIT Tournament.

"I've really been looking forward to this game," said head coach Jessie Evans, who opens his sixth season as Cajun mentor. "It means the start of a new season. Unfortunately, it will be on the road against excellent competition, but we'll have an opportunity to see exactly where we are."

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"Folks,
Tonight's win was a great moment in history for a great program. Those kids went out there and simple played their hearts out. Both sides for that matter. But, the Cajuns showed a level of maturity that I have not seen in a while. The upper classmen showed alot of leadership out there. Brad was on fire. Bunny showed alot of patience and team ball. Jessie coached one helluva of game. We looked like a top program. The MSU folks were floored by the poise and skill exhibited by all players for UL. This team did not fall apart when Washington went down. Nor when KJ went down. Without two of all top players at all. When MSU went up by five late in the game, I remember wondering how the team would rally. And rally they did. The best team clearly won here in Starkville. A team where the team ball was played and true grit was used to knock off a very tough No. 12 team. Stopped by to see Jay after the game and he as excited as my brother and I. Three happy Cajun fans among a large corwd of admiring MSU fans who poured plenty of gracious admiration toward our Cajuns. Just a great win for a great team. This season appears to be one that will be very special for us. Spring is gonna be fun!!!! "

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Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - The celebration of a big season-opening upset has come to a conclusion for UL's basketball squad.

The excitement over the 79-76 road win at Mississippi State will linger for a while, but the Ragin' Cajuns got down to the business of preparing for another road challenge at Monday's practice.

The Cajuns pulled off their first win over a ranked team in over 10 seasons Saturday in shocking the Bulldogs, who dropped to 23rd in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls this week. MSU had been ranked 12th in last week's AP poll.

"I still think they're one of the top 10 teams in the country," said UL Lafayette head coach Jessie Evans, one of the voters on the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll. "With Mario (Austin) in there, I had them seventh or eighth. That's how much respect I have for State and their basketball program."

The Bulldogs were playing without All-Southeastern Conference returnee center Austin, who is sidelined pending eligibility investigations dating back to his freshman season. Several national accounts of Saturday's opener belabored the point that Austin didn't see the court.

Those same accounts didn't mention that the Cajuns were playing without five players who would normally see extensive action, including All-Sun Belt Conference returnee and last year's Freshman of the Year Michael Southall at center and returning starter Laurie Bridges at guard.

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ADVERTISERS-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - It apparently didn't take long for Louisiana head basketball coach Jessie Evans to get his squad back down out of the clouds after Saturday's opening win over nationally-ranked Mississippi State.

"All we had to do was show the tape on the bus ride back," Evans said, "and let them see how many times Mississippi State got to the basket and how many offensive rebounds they got. They were playing volleyball with us sometimes."

Evans is hoping his team improves in some areas when the Cajuns (1-0) play their second straight road contest tonight, and a long-time rival will be waiting for their arrival when McNeese State (1-1) hosts the Cajun squad at 7 p.m. in Burton Coliseum.

McNeese fell at Mississippi State 81-65 on Monday, two nights after UL Lafayette pulled off the 79-76 shocker in Starkville, but Evans said that comparitive scores don't mean a lot.

"McNeese outrebounded them (Mississippi State) for most of the game," he said, "and we didn't do a good job at all in keeping them off the boards. And they've got three guards that are all excellent perimeter shooters."

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Advertisers-Brady Aymond

LAKE CHARLES -- Louisiana's basketball squad found out last Saturday what can happen when the shots go in.

Here Monday night, the Ragin' Cajuns found out what happens when they don't.

The Cajuns struggled from the field most of the evening, and McNeese State's Cowboys took advantage in taking a 76-74 win in the teams' annual rivalry game.

Jerrick Oliver's follow-up with 3.4 seconds left provided the eventual winning margin after the teams swapped the lead three times in the final minute.

The Cajun squad had used long-range marksmanship to take the upset 79-76 win over then-12th ranked Mississippi State on Saturday including 14 three-point baskets.

Against the Cowboys, UL Lafayete hit only 35.9 percent from the field.

Even with the cold shooting, the Cajuns cut into a double-figure deficit in the final three minutes. Three free throws and a three-pointer by Brad Boyd at the 2:54 mark ended an 8-0 run and put UL within 70-67, and a Kenneth Lawrence follow 50 seconds later made it 71-69.

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Cajuns stumble on road at McNeese St.
Dan McDonald / Staff Writer
Posted on November 29, 2002
LAFAYETTE - Louisiana's men's basketball team has split its first two games of the season, winning the game that most expected them to lose and falling in the contest that most expected them to win.

That leaves the Ragin' Cajuns 1-1, but Wednesday's loss at McNeese State also left them with an empty feeling.

After shooting Mississippi State out of its own arena last Saturday in a 79-76 upset over the then-12th ranked Bulldogs, the Cajuns found out what life was like on the other side at Burton Coliseum.

UL watched as the host Cowboys only missed 23 shots all night and hit 50 percent from three-point range in a 76-74 win that snapped a streak of nine straight Cajun wins in the series between the clubs.

"We needed this win desperately," said McNeese head coach Tic Price. "They've gotten us every time since I've been here and a lot of times before that."

The Cajuns hit only 23 of 64 shots from the field and only seven of 27 from three-point range, while the Cowboys were over 50 percent from the floor in each half.

"We have to do a better job of contesting shots," said Cajun head coach Jessie Evans, who lost for the first time to MSU in five meetings. "And we've got to do a better job of moving the basketball around and probing a defense. The three-point shots will always be there."

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