The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team defeated Loyola-New Orleans 78-54 on Monday night inside the Cajundome. The win extends the home winning streak to 18 in a row and moves Louisiana to 5-2 overall.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game got off to a sluggish offensive start on both sides. The Cajuns were held off the scoreboard for more than two minutes, and Loyola held a 6-4 lead at the first media timeout with 15:33 left in the first half.
Themus Fulks paced the Cajuns early, as he scored the team’s first 10 points in the contest. Louisiana got the offense going before the under 12 media timeout, taking a 16-9 lead thanks to a 10-5 run during the stretch.
The next stretch of play saw Louisiana’s leading scorer Kobe Julien get hot. Fresh off of a 30-point performance in his last contest, Julien put together a run and already had 11 points at the under eight timeout, with the Cajuns leading 31-16.
The Cajuns’ have shot the ball well all season, and tonight was no exception. At one point in the first half, Louisiana made 13 consecutive field goals and led 40-19 at the final media timeout of the first half.
By the halftime break, UL led 49-25 and was shooting 64% from the field. Fulks and Julien combined for 29 points in the half, and Joe Charles led the way with five rebounds.
Loyola began the second half shooting the ball well. They put together a 6-0 run right before the first media timeout, cutting the lead to 19 points at 53-34 with 15:56 left to play.
Louisiana did not have the offensive half in the second that they did in the first, but they did enough to maintain the lead throughout most of the half. By the under eight media timeout, UL was in control with a 68-45 lead.
The Cajuns would hold on to win 78-54, leading throughout and shooting the ball 56% from the field and 56% from three point range.
BIG NUMBER: 56
The Cajuns shot 56% from both the field and the three-point line in the victory. Their hot shooting will continue to be a key moving forward.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Themus Fulks
Fulks paced the Cajuns’ offense once again. He had 18 points, four assists, and four rebounds. He is off to a great start this season and looks to have improved on the offensive end.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will travel to face Samford on the road on Thursday, November 30th at 7:00 P.M.