University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Concludes Home Stand vs. McNeese State on Tuesday
11/10/2013 1:39:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Contact: Brian McCann
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Game 2
McNeese State (0-1) at Louisiana (1-0)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Site: Cajundome (11,550), Lafayette, Louisiana
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: RCN (Jeff Palermo & Scott Brazda)
Series: Louisiana leads, 54-34
Last Meeting: McNeese State 77, Louisiana 72 (12/8/12, Lake Charles, La.)
Tickets: $8, $10 & $15
Louisiana season tickets available at RaginCajuns.com and by calling the Cajundome (337) 265-2357.
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 44-51 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 269-182 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 392-217 (21st year)
vs. McNeese State: 14-11
McNEESE STATE
DAVE SIMMONS (Louisiana Tech '81)
At McNeese: 101-117 (8th year)
Overall: 128-146 (10th year)
vs. Louisiana: 5-2
SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns conclude their brief two-game season-opening home stand when McNeese State visits the Cajundome on Tuesday, Nov. 12 for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The game will be televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network with Jeff Palermo and Scott Brazda providing the commentary. Louisiana is 1-0 after opening the 2013-14 season with a 101-67 win over Louisiana College on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the Cajundome. Shawn Long (23 pts., 14 rebounds) and Elfrid Payton (21 pts., 10 assists) each registered double-doubles in the opener to help the Cajuns take control of the game early in the first half and run away with the decision. McNeese State is 0-1 after dropping a 98-56 decision at No. 2 Michigan State on Friday. This will be the 89th series meeting with Louisiana holding a 54-34 all-time lead
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana returns all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 13-20 and fourth-year head coach Bob Marlin feels confident that the Cajuns are on a path to return to national prominence. The team will be centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (15.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.5 apg) and forward Shawn Long (15.5, 10.2), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long makes the move from center to power forward, his natural position, with newcomers J.J. Davenport, a junior who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshman Vieux Kande, expected to see the majority of minutes at center. Elridge Moore (4.8, 3.7), who started as an undersized power forward last season, will move to small forward. Bryant Mbamalu (13.8, 3.7), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, is out indefinitely with a foot injury in September. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (4.8, 1.6), who is returning after missing most of last season with a broken foot, is expected to take over. Sophomore guards Steve Wronkoski (5.7, 2.5) and Kasey Shephard (3.4, 1.2) will each see time off the bench this year with a trio of newcomers, junior Xavian Rimmer, and freshmen Hayward Register (G) and Luka Kamber (F) vying for time. Marlin will utilize the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. The Cajuns use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.
RAGIN' CAJUNS START THE NEXT 100 SEASONS: The Ragin' Cajuns have begun their 101st season of basketball. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the week with a 1,310-1,004 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 100 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight Louisiana players have earned All-America honors with 96 being named all-conference.
REBOUNDERS CLUB TO MEET: The second meeting of the Rebounders Club, a group of supporters of the Ragin' Cajuns basketball team, will be held on Wednesday (Nov. 14) beginning at 12:00 noon at the Petroleum Club (111 Heymann). Information on becoming a Rebounds Club member is available by contacting Karren Hays at (337) 988-4557.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100-percent both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 grade point average for the team. It was the fifth time in six semesters that the team had a GPA of better than 2.50, which had never been done before. The last five semesters account for four of the top seven terms for the basketball team during that time.
SIX GAMES TO BE TELEVISED: The Ragin' Cajuns will garner a little more attention nationally this year as six games will be televised during the regular season. The Nov. 12 McNeese State game will be televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network. The Sun Belt Network will pick up home games vs. Texas State (Jan. 13) and South Alabama (March 2) and the road meeting with Georgia State (Feb. 22). The Nov. 17 contest at Baylor will be featured on Fox Sports Southwest while the Dec. 7 game at defending national champion Louisville will be shown on ESPN3. In addition, the home games vs. WKU (Jan. 25) and Arkansas State (Feb. 15) could both be picked up by one of the ESPN channels.
LONG RECORDS A QUICK DOUBLE-DOUBLE: After ranking sixth nationally last year with 18 double-doubles, sophomore Shawn Long didn't wait too long to get his first double-double of 2013-14, scoring 23 points with 14 rebounds in the season-opening win over Louisiana College. Long only needed 18:07 to accomplish his 19th double-double, grabbing his 10th rebound of the night (to go with 14 points at the time) as part of an 18 point, 11-rebound effort in the first half. It marked the first time that Long had reached double-double totals by intermission.
. . . AND PAYTON ADDS HIS FOURTH: Elfrid Payton also registered a double-double in the season opener, scoring 21 points with a career-high matching 10 assists for his fourth career double-double (and second point-assists double-double). Payton had them in back-to-back games at McNeese State (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Lamar (17/11) last year and came back to miss a triple-double by one rebound at FIU, scoring 13 points with nine rebounds and 10 assists.
MOORE LIKES OPENERS: Elridge Moore must love season openers. After all, the senior forward has scored in double figures just five times in his short Cajuns career, but two of those have come in season openers. Last November, Moore went six-for-seven from the floor en route to setting career highs for points (15) and steals (5) in the win over Oakland. On Saturday, Moore scored seven of his 11 points in the second half, going four-for-five from the field and making all three free throws. Moore went on to average 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, finishing second on the team with 33 steals and 51 assists and third with 17 blocks.
A GOOD START FROM THE STRIPE: One painful streak that the Ragin' Cajuns hope to end this season is the program's streak of 21 straight season failing to shoot .700 or better from the line as a team. That effort got off to a good start in the opener when Louisiana made 17 of its 19 free throws to shoot .895 from the stripe. The performance was the second-highest effort by the Cajuns in the four seasons under Bob Marlin, being topped only by the 12-for-12 game at San Francisco (Nov. 13, 2011). Louisiana was on a pace to top the .700 mark for most of last season before going cold at the line in February.
. . . AND THE SAME GOES FOR PAYTON: A career .611 shooter from the stripe entering the season, Elfrid Payton is intent on raising that figure further this year. Payton shot just .564 (75-134) as a freshman but came back to go 134-for-209 (.641) last year. He started the 2013-14 season off right, going seven-for-seven from the stripe vs. Louisiana College. The improvement is not a surprise as Payton shot .719 (41-57) during his three summer tours, including .900 (9-10) at the FIBA World Championship.
WELCOME BACK KEVIN: The Louisiana College game marked the return to the court for Kevin Brown, who missed most of last season after suffering a foot injury in the eighth game of the year. Brown averaged 4.8 points and shot .421 from three-point (8-21) last year, scoring a career-high 14 points at Michigan State. Brown scored six points with two rebounds in his return to the court. Earlier in the week, he scored 10 points in the exhibition win over William Carey.
HOW ELFRID SPENT HIS SUMMER: Elfrid Payton had quite a summer, traveling more than 40,000 miles to play 20 basketball games in three different countries as part of three different teams. The journey started with an eight-game, 18-day (May 11-28) tour of the Far East and China with Reach USA, during which he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals a game in helping Reach USA to a 4-2-1 record. After returning to the states, Payton headed to Colorado Springs, Colo. where he not only earned a spot on the USA Basketball U19 team for the FIBA World Championship (June 26-July 7) in Prague, Czech Republic, but a starting spot as well. Payton helped lead Team USA to a 9-0 record and the gold medal. One month later, Payton travelled with his Cajuns teammates to Spain, winning all four games during a goodwill tour.
LONG & PAYTON NAMED TO ALL-SBC SQUAD: Junior guard Elfrid Payton and sophomore forward Shawn Long were rewarded for their hard work when the duo were two of five players named to the 2013-14 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first team in a balloting conducted of the league's head coaches. South Alabama's Augustin Rubit, the only senior on the first team, earned preseason player of the year honors, while Georgia State's R.J. Hunter and WKU's T.J. Price were the other first team honorees. Payton averaged 15.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last year, leading the league in both assists (181) and steals (80). Long, the reigning SBC Freshman of the Year, averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, leading all freshman nationally in rebounding.
LOUISIANA TABBED FOR 4TH IN SBC POLL: With all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen back this season, the Ragin' Cajuns earned some respect from the Sun Belt Coaches when they were picked to finish in a fourth place tie with league newcomer Georgia State when the Sun Belt announced its annual preseason coaches poll on Oct. 30. Just 18 votes separated the top five teams with two-time tournament champion WKU getting the top nod with 91 points, including half of the 10 first place votes. South Alabama was second with 78 points, including two first place votes. Arkansas State was tabbed third with 74 points, one point ahead of both Louisiana (1 first place vote) and Georgia State (2), who each garnered 73 votes.
JERRY FLAKE TO BE HONORED: Another number will be raised to the Cajundome rafters during the season when Jerry Flake (1965-69) has his number honored prior to the Houston game on Dec. 14. Over four decades after completing his career, Flake still ranks fifth in school history with 2,058 career points, averaging 19.2 points a game over the course of his career. Flake's number 20 will become the fifth retired jersey, joining Dwight "Bo" Lamar's No. 10, the No. 14 worn by Marvin Winkler, Andrew Toney's No. 24 and the No. 12 worn by Dean Church, which was retired in February, 2012.
CAJUNS TRIO SEEKS OUT 1,000 POINT MARK: The Cajuns enter the season with three players capable of reaching the 1,000 point mark for their career, a figure accomplished by 39 Louisiana players. Senior Bryant Mbamalu's quest for 1,000 will have to wait until he returns from a foot injury, but when he does, he will have just 206 points to go. He enters the year with 794 points. Junior Elfrid Payton begins the week with 774 points. At his 15.9 pace from last year, he will need 15 games to reach 1,000. Sophomore Shawn Long scored 511 points last year and will need to equal his 15.5 points per game from last year to accomplish the fete.
LONG MAINTAINS FRESHMAN REBOUNDING LEAD: With 10 or more rebounds in 11 of his last 15 games, Shawn Long finished the 2012-13 season as the top freshman rebounder in the country. Long grabbed 337 rebounds in 33 games (10.2 rpg) to rank ahead of Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.6). Long was 12th in rebounding overall.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: With 18 double-doubles in 33 games last year, Shawn Long finished 2012-13 ranked sixth nationally in the category. Bucknell's Mike Muscala led the nation with 22 with UNC-Wilmington's Keith Rendleman and Towson's Jerrelle Benimon having 20 and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Tulane's Josh Davis ranked fourth with 19. Long had a double-double in 10 of the last 15 games in 2012-13, giving him 10 double-doubles in 20 league games last season.
CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns was at its best late in the game as Louisiana went 142-for-196 (.724) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (15-16, .938), Shawn Long (21-28, .750) and Steven Wronkoski (14-19, .737) led the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .776 shooter (45-58), was 24-for-29 last year (.828). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
GRIDER ENTERS HALL OF FAME: Cajun basketball alumnus Sydney Grider (1988-90) was one of four Louisiana athletic alumni to be inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame. Grider was joined by baseball standout Gene Bacque (1956-57), softball star Lynn Britton (1993-96) and football star Andy Martin (1979-82), bringing the number of Ragin' Cajuns alumni to 142. Grider, the most effective three-point shooter in school history, earned back-to-back first-team All-American South Conference honors as a junior and senior, averaging 23.5 points as a junior and leading the American South as a senior with a 25.5 average. In that senior year he hit 131-of-321 three-point tries, setting Cajun school records in both categories.
NEXT UP: The Ragin' Cajuns start a stretch that has them playing six of their next seven games away from home when they play road games at Arkansas on Friday (Nov. 15) at 7:00 p.m. and at Baylor on Sunday (Nov. 17) at 4:00 p.m. Louisiana does not return home until it hosts Northwestern State on Nov. 27.
Complete Game Notes (PDF)
Game 2
McNeese State (0-1) at Louisiana (1-0)
Date: Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013
Time: 7:05 p.m. CST
Site: Cajundome (11,550), Lafayette, Louisiana
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: RCN (Jeff Palermo & Scott Brazda)
Series: Louisiana leads, 54-34
Last Meeting: McNeese State 77, Louisiana 72 (12/8/12, Lake Charles, La.)
Tickets: $8, $10 & $15
Louisiana season tickets available at RaginCajuns.com and by calling the Cajundome (337) 265-2357.
THE COACHES:
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 44-51 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 269-182 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 392-217 (21st year)
vs. McNeese State: 14-11
McNEESE STATE
DAVE SIMMONS (Louisiana Tech '81)
At McNeese: 101-117 (8th year)
Overall: 128-146 (10th year)
vs. Louisiana: 5-2
SETTING THE SCENE: The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns conclude their brief two-game season-opening home stand when McNeese State visits the Cajundome on Tuesday, Nov. 12 for a 7:05 p.m. contest. The game will be televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network with Jeff Palermo and Scott Brazda providing the commentary. Louisiana is 1-0 after opening the 2013-14 season with a 101-67 win over Louisiana College on Saturday (Nov. 9) in the Cajundome. Shawn Long (23 pts., 14 rebounds) and Elfrid Payton (21 pts., 10 assists) each registered double-doubles in the opener to help the Cajuns take control of the game early in the first half and run away with the decision. McNeese State is 0-1 after dropping a 98-56 decision at No. 2 Michigan State on Friday. This will be the 89th series meeting with Louisiana holding a 54-34 all-time lead
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana returns all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 13-20 and fourth-year head coach Bob Marlin feels confident that the Cajuns are on a path to return to national prominence. The team will be centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (15.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.5 apg) and forward Shawn Long (15.5, 10.2), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long makes the move from center to power forward, his natural position, with newcomers J.J. Davenport, a junior who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshman Vieux Kande, expected to see the majority of minutes at center. Elridge Moore (4.8, 3.7), who started as an undersized power forward last season, will move to small forward. Bryant Mbamalu (13.8, 3.7), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, is out indefinitely with a foot injury in September. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (4.8, 1.6), who is returning after missing most of last season with a broken foot, is expected to take over. Sophomore guards Steve Wronkoski (5.7, 2.5) and Kasey Shephard (3.4, 1.2) will each see time off the bench this year with a trio of newcomers, junior Xavian Rimmer, and freshmen Hayward Register (G) and Luka Kamber (F) vying for time. Marlin will utilize the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. The Cajuns use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.
RAGIN' CAJUNS START THE NEXT 100 SEASONS: The Ragin' Cajuns have begun their 101st season of basketball. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the week with a 1,310-1,004 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 100 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight Louisiana players have earned All-America honors with 96 being named all-conference.
REBOUNDERS CLUB TO MEET: The second meeting of the Rebounders Club, a group of supporters of the Ragin' Cajuns basketball team, will be held on Wednesday (Nov. 14) beginning at 12:00 noon at the Petroleum Club (111 Heymann). Information on becoming a Rebounds Club member is available by contacting Karren Hays at (337) 988-4557.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100-percent both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 grade point average for the team. It was the fifth time in six semesters that the team had a GPA of better than 2.50, which had never been done before. The last five semesters account for four of the top seven terms for the basketball team during that time.
SIX GAMES TO BE TELEVISED: The Ragin' Cajuns will garner a little more attention nationally this year as six games will be televised during the regular season. The Nov. 12 McNeese State game will be televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network. The Sun Belt Network will pick up home games vs. Texas State (Jan. 13) and South Alabama (March 2) and the road meeting with Georgia State (Feb. 22). The Nov. 17 contest at Baylor will be featured on Fox Sports Southwest while the Dec. 7 game at defending national champion Louisville will be shown on ESPN3. In addition, the home games vs. WKU (Jan. 25) and Arkansas State (Feb. 15) could both be picked up by one of the ESPN channels.
LONG RECORDS A QUICK DOUBLE-DOUBLE: After ranking sixth nationally last year with 18 double-doubles, sophomore Shawn Long didn't wait too long to get his first double-double of 2013-14, scoring 23 points with 14 rebounds in the season-opening win over Louisiana College. Long only needed 18:07 to accomplish his 19th double-double, grabbing his 10th rebound of the night (to go with 14 points at the time) as part of an 18 point, 11-rebound effort in the first half. It marked the first time that Long had reached double-double totals by intermission.
. . . AND PAYTON ADDS HIS FOURTH: Elfrid Payton also registered a double-double in the season opener, scoring 21 points with a career-high matching 10 assists for his fourth career double-double (and second point-assists double-double). Payton had them in back-to-back games at McNeese State (17 points, 10 rebounds) and Lamar (17/11) last year and came back to miss a triple-double by one rebound at FIU, scoring 13 points with nine rebounds and 10 assists.
MOORE LIKES OPENERS: Elridge Moore must love season openers. After all, the senior forward has scored in double figures just five times in his short Cajuns career, but two of those have come in season openers. Last November, Moore went six-for-seven from the floor en route to setting career highs for points (15) and steals (5) in the win over Oakland. On Saturday, Moore scored seven of his 11 points in the second half, going four-for-five from the field and making all three free throws. Moore went on to average 4.8 points and 3.7 rebounds a game, finishing second on the team with 33 steals and 51 assists and third with 17 blocks.
A GOOD START FROM THE STRIPE: One painful streak that the Ragin' Cajuns hope to end this season is the program's streak of 21 straight season failing to shoot .700 or better from the line as a team. That effort got off to a good start in the opener when Louisiana made 17 of its 19 free throws to shoot .895 from the stripe. The performance was the second-highest effort by the Cajuns in the four seasons under Bob Marlin, being topped only by the 12-for-12 game at San Francisco (Nov. 13, 2011). Louisiana was on a pace to top the .700 mark for most of last season before going cold at the line in February.
. . . AND THE SAME GOES FOR PAYTON: A career .611 shooter from the stripe entering the season, Elfrid Payton is intent on raising that figure further this year. Payton shot just .564 (75-134) as a freshman but came back to go 134-for-209 (.641) last year. He started the 2013-14 season off right, going seven-for-seven from the stripe vs. Louisiana College. The improvement is not a surprise as Payton shot .719 (41-57) during his three summer tours, including .900 (9-10) at the FIBA World Championship.
WELCOME BACK KEVIN: The Louisiana College game marked the return to the court for Kevin Brown, who missed most of last season after suffering a foot injury in the eighth game of the year. Brown averaged 4.8 points and shot .421 from three-point (8-21) last year, scoring a career-high 14 points at Michigan State. Brown scored six points with two rebounds in his return to the court. Earlier in the week, he scored 10 points in the exhibition win over William Carey.
HOW ELFRID SPENT HIS SUMMER: Elfrid Payton had quite a summer, traveling more than 40,000 miles to play 20 basketball games in three different countries as part of three different teams. The journey started with an eight-game, 18-day (May 11-28) tour of the Far East and China with Reach USA, during which he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals a game in helping Reach USA to a 4-2-1 record. After returning to the states, Payton headed to Colorado Springs, Colo. where he not only earned a spot on the USA Basketball U19 team for the FIBA World Championship (June 26-July 7) in Prague, Czech Republic, but a starting spot as well. Payton helped lead Team USA to a 9-0 record and the gold medal. One month later, Payton travelled with his Cajuns teammates to Spain, winning all four games during a goodwill tour.
LONG & PAYTON NAMED TO ALL-SBC SQUAD: Junior guard Elfrid Payton and sophomore forward Shawn Long were rewarded for their hard work when the duo were two of five players named to the 2013-14 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first team in a balloting conducted of the league's head coaches. South Alabama's Augustin Rubit, the only senior on the first team, earned preseason player of the year honors, while Georgia State's R.J. Hunter and WKU's T.J. Price were the other first team honorees. Payton averaged 15.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last year, leading the league in both assists (181) and steals (80). Long, the reigning SBC Freshman of the Year, averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, leading all freshman nationally in rebounding.
LOUISIANA TABBED FOR 4TH IN SBC POLL: With all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen back this season, the Ragin' Cajuns earned some respect from the Sun Belt Coaches when they were picked to finish in a fourth place tie with league newcomer Georgia State when the Sun Belt announced its annual preseason coaches poll on Oct. 30. Just 18 votes separated the top five teams with two-time tournament champion WKU getting the top nod with 91 points, including half of the 10 first place votes. South Alabama was second with 78 points, including two first place votes. Arkansas State was tabbed third with 74 points, one point ahead of both Louisiana (1 first place vote) and Georgia State (2), who each garnered 73 votes.
JERRY FLAKE TO BE HONORED: Another number will be raised to the Cajundome rafters during the season when Jerry Flake (1965-69) has his number honored prior to the Houston game on Dec. 14. Over four decades after completing his career, Flake still ranks fifth in school history with 2,058 career points, averaging 19.2 points a game over the course of his career. Flake's number 20 will become the fifth retired jersey, joining Dwight "Bo" Lamar's No. 10, the No. 14 worn by Marvin Winkler, Andrew Toney's No. 24 and the No. 12 worn by Dean Church, which was retired in February, 2012.
CAJUNS TRIO SEEKS OUT 1,000 POINT MARK: The Cajuns enter the season with three players capable of reaching the 1,000 point mark for their career, a figure accomplished by 39 Louisiana players. Senior Bryant Mbamalu's quest for 1,000 will have to wait until he returns from a foot injury, but when he does, he will have just 206 points to go. He enters the year with 794 points. Junior Elfrid Payton begins the week with 774 points. At his 15.9 pace from last year, he will need 15 games to reach 1,000. Sophomore Shawn Long scored 511 points last year and will need to equal his 15.5 points per game from last year to accomplish the fete.
LONG MAINTAINS FRESHMAN REBOUNDING LEAD: With 10 or more rebounds in 11 of his last 15 games, Shawn Long finished the 2012-13 season as the top freshman rebounder in the country. Long grabbed 337 rebounds in 33 games (10.2 rpg) to rank ahead of Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.6). Long was 12th in rebounding overall.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: With 18 double-doubles in 33 games last year, Shawn Long finished 2012-13 ranked sixth nationally in the category. Bucknell's Mike Muscala led the nation with 22 with UNC-Wilmington's Keith Rendleman and Towson's Jerrelle Benimon having 20 and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Tulane's Josh Davis ranked fourth with 19. Long had a double-double in 10 of the last 15 games in 2012-13, giving him 10 double-doubles in 20 league games last season.
CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns was at its best late in the game as Louisiana went 142-for-196 (.724) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (15-16, .938), Shawn Long (21-28, .750) and Steven Wronkoski (14-19, .737) led the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .776 shooter (45-58), was 24-for-29 last year (.828). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
GRIDER ENTERS HALL OF FAME: Cajun basketball alumnus Sydney Grider (1988-90) was one of four Louisiana athletic alumni to be inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame. Grider was joined by baseball standout Gene Bacque (1956-57), softball star Lynn Britton (1993-96) and football star Andy Martin (1979-82), bringing the number of Ragin' Cajuns alumni to 142. Grider, the most effective three-point shooter in school history, earned back-to-back first-team All-American South Conference honors as a junior and senior, averaging 23.5 points as a junior and leading the American South as a senior with a 25.5 average. In that senior year he hit 131-of-321 three-point tries, setting Cajun school records in both categories.
NEXT UP: The Ragin' Cajuns start a stretch that has them playing six of their next seven games away from home when they play road games at Arkansas on Friday (Nov. 15) at 7:00 p.m. and at Baylor on Sunday (Nov. 17) at 4:00 p.m. Louisiana does not return home until it hosts Northwestern State on Nov. 27.
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