Team Effort Helps Louisiana Pull Away From UT Arlington

LAFAYETTE – Shawn Long recorded his 14th double-double of the season as he posted game-highs with 22 points and 14 rebounds and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns pulled away in the second half to claim a 90-75 victory over UT Arlington in a Sun Belt Conference men's basketball game on Saturday at the Cajundome.

Bryce Washington scored 16 points and nine rebounds for Louisiana (11-8, 7-3 SBC), which won its sixth straight game and 12th straight at the Cajundome dating back to last season. Jay Wright added 13 points for the Ragin' Cajuns while Steven Wronkoski scored a season-high 11.

The Ragin' Cajuns, who will host ULM on Tuesday to cap a season-high five-game homestand, outscored UTA (14-6, 5-4 SBC), 48-33, in the final 20 minutes while holding a 37-24 advantage against the SBC's top rebounding club (+9.6) and second-ranked scoring team (81.5).

Louisiana, the SBC's top scoring team (81.9 ppg.) and second in rebounding margin (+7.8), used a 16-5 run in the second half to pull away from a 54-51 lead as Wright drilled a pair of 3-pointers during the spurt and Washington converted on a three-point play for a 63-56 lead with 10:44 remaining.

"We beat a good basketball team," head coach Bob Marlin said. "They came at us hard early, played with a lot of energy and I thought they were really good defensively in the first half and bothered us somewhat offensively. But saying that, we shot over 50 percent from the field in both halves, we shot over 50 percent for three in both halves and over 84 percent from the free throw line."

Behind a opening bucket from Washington and a combined three 3-pointers from Wright and Wronkoski, Louisiana jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead before the Mavs stormed back. UTA used a 12-2 run as a bucket by Erick Neal cut the lead to 13-12, and the Mavs would take their first lead of the afternoon, 23-21, on a Mairega Clarke layup with 10:20 remaining in the half.

The Mavs took their biggest lead of the game, 30-27, when Neal scored on a layup with 7:49 remaining in the half, but Louisiana would knot the game on its next possession as Hayward Register sank three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

Long, who finished 6-for-10 from the floor and 10-for-10 from the free throw line, gave Louisiana a 36-31 lead on a pair of free throws with 4:15 left in the half before UTA used a 7-2 run to tie the game at 38-38 on a bucket by Nick Pallas.

After a bucket by UTA's Kennedy Eubanks tied the game at 48-48 at the 15:55 mark, the Ragin' Cajuns would take the lead for good on a bucket by Washington, who finished 6-for-9 from the floor and grabbed nine rebounds to narrowly miss his second career double-double. Wright opened the Ragin' Cajuns decisive run when his 3-pointer from the left wing gave Louisiana a 57-51 lead.

Johnathan Stove added a free throw for Louisiana before a pair of buckets by Washington, including one for a three-point play, and a bucket and two free throws by Long, pushed the Cajuns lead to 67-56 with 9:06 remaining.

Wright, who finished 4-for-6 from the floor and 3-for-4 from long range, capped the spurt as his second 3-pointer during the run gave Louisiana a 70-56 lead with 8:40 left.

"Shawn played well, he got in foul trouble but did a nice job in rebounding the ball, I thought he blocked some shots and really protected the rim," Marlin said. "Bryce was really solid, especially in the second half. Johnathan Stove had a really good second half. Jay Wright played well … he hit a couple of big 3's for us when we needed them. Steven (Wronkoski) hit a couple to get us off to a great start. So it was a total team effort."

UTA, which handed the Ragin' Cajuns their last loss at the Cajundome, got as close as 74-67 on a pair of free throws by Jalen Jones with 4:59 remaining before Louisiana scored the next nine points to seal the win.

Two free throws by Kasey Shepherd and one free throw each by Elijah McGuire and Devonta Walker increased Louisiana's lead to 78-67, before Shepherd drilled a 3-pointer and Washington added a pair of free throws for an 81-67 lead with 3:28 left.

Louisiana finished 26-for-48 from the floor (54.2 percent), eclipsing the 50-percent mark from the floor for the third straight game. The Ragin' Cajuns posted season-highs in both 3-point field-goal percentage (50.0 percent) and free throw percentage (85.3) while holding the Mavs to a season-low 14 attempts from long range.

Neal led UTA with 20 points and seven assists while Jones added 15 points. The Mavs finished 27-for-58 (46.6 percent) from the floor, 8-for-14 (57.1 percent) from behind the 3-point line and 13-for-23 (56.5 percent) from the free throw line.

Players Mentioned

Shawn Long

Elijah McGuire

Hayward Register

Kasey Shepherd

Johnathan Stove

Devonta Walker

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright

Steven Wronkoski