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After falling to Toledo in the first leg of the Sun Belt-MAC Challenge, the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns returned to the Cajundome and welcomed the Wildcats of Louisiana Christian. Kentrell Garnett scored 20 points as the Cajuns set a new program record with 17 made threes as the Cajuns ran away from LCU in a 107-56 win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After hitting two quick threes from Kentrell Garnett and Kobe Julien, Louisiana struggled to get anything going offensively as they trailed Louisiana Christian 10-9 at the under-16 timeout. The Cajuns missed their last five field goals heading into the timeout and hadn’t had a basket since the second minute of the game.
The Cajuns were able to go on a run after the under-16 timeout, outscoring the Wildcats 19-2 to make it a 28-14 advantage at the under-12 timeout. Garnett led all scorers with 17 on 6-7 shooting and 5-6 from deep.
Louisiana’s scoring slowed down slightly over the next stretch, but the Cajuns still led 46-27 at the under-4 media timeout, the final one of the first half. Garnett continued to lead all scorers with 17 points on 6-8 shooting.
At the halftime break, Louisiana held a 59-31 lead over the Wildcats of Louisiana Christian. Michael Thomas received a technical foul shortly before halftime for taunting towards the Wildcats bench, but the Cajuns were still in complete control. Kentrell Garnett (20) and Kobe Julien (10) led the Cajuns in the scoring department while Jude Akabueweze and Drew Tebbe each had six for LCU.
The second half started slowly for both teams with the scoring being even at 6-6 through the first stretch of the second half. For the game, the Cajuns were shooting 53% from the field and 50% from beyond the arc at the first media timeout of the second half.
Over the next stretch of the game before the media timeout, Louisiana went on a 14-4 run to truly separate themselves from the Wildcats with a 79-41 lead with 11:15 remaining.
The Cajuns continued to make their shots from beyond the arc, setting a new program record with 17 made threes in the contest with 5:01 remaining in the game.
At the final media timeout at 3:47 remaining, Louisiana had hit 100 points and led by 46 over Louisiana Christian.
As the final seconds ticked off, Louisiana took care of business inside the Cajundome 107-56 over the Louisiana Christian Wildcats.
BIG NUMBER: 17
Louisiana set a new single-game program record for made three-pointers with 17. Kentrell Garnett led the way with his 6-11 performance from downtown.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kentrell Garnett
The junior from Donaldsonville was incredible, scoring a game-high 20 points on 7-11 shooting, including 6-11 from downtown to help set a new program record for threes with 17 made in the contest.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will head to Estero, FL for the Gulf Coast Showcase beginning on Monday when they take on Wright State. Tip-off is at 4:00 p.m.