Louisiana Returns From Break in Style, Cruises Past Dillard

Box Score

The Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team returned from final exams break on Monday hosting Dillard at the Cajundome and had no trouble cruising to a 102-38 victory that extended the squad's homecourt win streak to three games.

Louisiana (5-6) shot 60 percent in the opening half in building a 30-point edge at the break. It took only four minutes into the second stanza to stretch the lead to 40 points and the Cajuns led the Bleu Devils (0-11) by 60-plus points for the final 5:20 of the contest.

Six Cajuns scored double figures led by a game-and season-high 18 points from Darshawn McClellan. Alan-Michael Thompson (16), David Perez (13) and Kentwan Smith (12) all registered season-highs in points.

Dillard (0-11) received a team-high 13 points from Jamal Silas. Silas buried three triples in the game.

UL improved to 4-1 at the Cajundome this season and won by 20-plus points in the facility for the third straight outing.

Monday's game marked the first meeting between the two schools since December 1970. It was also the first time Dillard visited the Cajundome.

UL played the contest without the services of Kadeem Coleby (ankle), Scottie Farrington (head) and J.J. Thomas (knee) who all sat out with injury. All 10 Cajuns who were available for action played and each registered points.

Louisiana opened separation from Dillard with an 8-0 run starting with a McClellan basket at 18:27. The run was capped off by a pair of Bryant Mbamalu free throws at 16:06 that increased the lead to 11-2.

The Bleu Devils got a jumper from Silas at 15:25 to end the Cajuns run. Louisiana responded with a pair of Thompson freebies at 14:30 and triple from McClellan on the left wing at 13:41 to open the first double figure lead of the game, 16-4.

Dillard moved back within single digits following a Silas three-pointer at 10:54 which cut the Cajuns lead to 18-9. A mere 13 seconds later and a McClellan field goal make returned the UL lead into double figures for good.

A Perez layup off of Dillard turnover came with 9:00 left in the opening stanza and stretched the Cajuns lead to 25-11. A Silas triple came at 8:25 and pulled the Bleu Devils within 11 points at 25-14.

A Perez three-point make at the 7:41 jumpstarted a 13-0 Cajuns run that allowed the hosts to begin to pull away. That basket upped the UL lead to 30-16.

Ahead 32-16, the Cajuns picked up a triple from Raymone Andrews at 5:38 and three-point play from Josh Brown off a reverse layup at 4:45 for a string of six points that extended the lead over 20 points for the first time (38-16).

The game-changing run received an exclamation point at 4:31 when Elfrid Payton slammed home the basketball off a Dillard turnover to increase the lead to 40-16.

Louisiana scored the final four points of the opening half on layups from Mbamalu and Smith to grab a 49-19 halftime lead.

The Cajuns rattled off the first nine points of the second half to extend the lead to 58-19 by the 17:33 mark. Andrews opened the scoring at 18:54, then a three-point play by McClellan made it 54-19 at 18:24. A Brown layup on a fastbreak and McClellan putback of a Brown miss at 17:33 capped off the run and upped the UL advantage to 58-19.

A pair of Brown free throws at 16:17 moved the lead into 40 points at 62-21. A Smith layup with 11:26 remaining increased the margin to 50 points at 76-26.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Louisiana Returns From Break in Style, Cruises Past Dillard

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