The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (11-4, 1-1 SBC) didn’t have much time to get over the tough conference opening loss to Arkansas State. The bright lights of a nationally televised game weren’t enough to distract them as they were able to get a convincing win over defending Sun Belt Conference champions Arkansas Little Rock (10-5, 1-1 SBC).
The Trojans would take an early edge, but it would not last long as the Cajuns started to get hot, taking a 21-11 lead with 9:15 left in the first half. It would continue to be all Cajuns the rest of the first half as they would head into the locker room at halftime with a 22 point lead.
The Cajuns would take the momentum from the first half and seemed to pile on the points early in the second half, making it seem like it was going to be a one-sided second half. However, the Trojans would begin to finally get shots in the bucket and got the lead down to 17 points with 10:28 left in regulation. The Cajuns would quickly respond and keep themselves comfortably in the lead the rest of the way.
The Cajuns will return to the Cajundome on Saturday night to take on in-state rival UL Monroe (6-9, 0-2 SBC) with tipoff set for 7:15 PM.
By the Numbers:
32: Field goal percentage for Arkansas Little Rock in the loss to the Cajuns. One part of their inefficiency with shooting was due to the lack of points in the paint. The Trojans ended their night with only 16 of their 52 points coming from within the paint.
12: Number of double doubles that Bryce Washington now has on the season after the win. The junior forward ended his night with 13 points and 11 boards.
40: Cajuns free throw percentage in the win. Cajuns shot only five from the charity stripe so it wasn’t as big of a deal as it was on Saturday in Jonesboro.
-Clint Domingue