Louisiana Basketball Takes Down UNO 80-67 to Break Losing Streak
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns basketball team broke their three-game losing streak by beating the University of New Orleans Privateers 80-67 in the Cajundome on Friday night.
With the win, the Cajuns improved to 4-3 in 2021. They have one more home game this week against McNeese on Wednesday before traveling for a two-game road trip to face Louisiana Tech and the University of Houston.
Head coach Bob Marlin gave credit to his forwards for doing a good job on the boards and was happy with his team's defensive effort in the win.
"The big guys did a good job," Marlin said. "I thought we rebounded the ball well today. We also played good defense."
Fixing the defense was a point of emphasis after Louisiana's loss to Jackson State. And in the first four minutes of the game, they played excellent defense against the Privateers. UNO started 0-4 from the field with two turnovers, and the Cajuns used good ball movement to jump out to a 8-0 lead.
Louisiana guard Brayan Au's first three-pointer of the season was part of a run that stretched the lead out to 15-6. During that time, the Privateers went on a three-minute scoring drought.
The Cajuns offense broke their own three-minute scoreless stretch with a layup by guard Jalen Dalcourt. A three by guard Kentrell Garnett made it 20-11 with eight minutes remaining in the first half.
UNO went on a 7-0 run in 50 seconds to get within two points at 22-20. Louisiana answered, but a 30-foot buzzer-beating three-pointer by the Privateers had the margin at 34-32 going into the halftime break.
Both teams scored eight points before the first official break of the second half. Louisiana's lead remained at two points at 42-40 with less than 16 minutes remaining.
A three-pointer by UNO gave the Privateers their first lead of the night at 49-48 with 13 minutes left. The Cajuns answered with 10 straight points thanks to good defensive play.
Louisiana's lead stretched to 58-49, using Privateer turnovers to set up easy looks at the basket like this dunk by forward Kobe Julien.
The Cajuns offense kept the pressure up, hitting five of seven shots in a three-minute burst. The lead ballooned to 11 points multiple times, but at the final official timeout, Louisiana's lead was 69-60.
Cajuns guard Trajan Wesley scored a career-high 18 points thanks to some late free throws. He was 8-9 at the free throw line in the game.
The last few minutes turned into a free-throw contest, where UNO continued fouling to attempt to go on a run, but Louisiana did a good job of sealing the game at the stripe.
They held on to win 80-67 and broke their three-game losing streak.
Louisiana struggled from three-point range, only hitting six of their 24 attempts, but they did well at the free throw line, going 16-21 in the game. The Cajuns turnover struggles continued as they carelessly lost the ball 16 times, but they also forced 16 turnovers defensively. They also out-rebounded the Privateers 45-32, as their size was a big advantage.
Up next, Louisiana has a midweek match in the Cajundome against McNeese on Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 7:00 p.m.