Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball handled business against the South Alabama Jaguars Saturday afternoon in a comfortable 88–79 away performance, marking three straight wins for the team.
This stretch of play over the last two weeks vaulted the Cajuns to 4–3 in conference play and makes the team 4–1 since the James Madison dustup on Jan. 4.
Kobe Julien has taken over the Cajuns’ offensive system: he is the captain now.
In the last four games, Julien is averaging 20.5 points on 73% true shooting. The best part: he’s only having to play 30 minutes a game to get these opportunities.
Julien is taking full advantage of his offensive environment and using his extra experience to become the Cajuns’ best tough bucket-getter. His range of movement and feints mean getting open off-ball and shooting off the catch, isolation work with a reset dribble, or drawing help show these are skills he’s been polishing for a long time now.
Make no mistake: Julien can be a two-way player too. As the rest of the team is built on switching and help, all this offensive production wouldn’t mean much if he was a liability in that department.
On defense, Julien can surprise smaller wings or guards looking for a switch by keeping up and forcing them into tough decisions, as illustrated by his three blocks against Texas State on Jan. 17.
On Saturday, he made his 24 points and eight rebounds look natural. With the game at 43–41 early in the second, Julien finished off a wild rally with a smooth layup and a drawn foul to help the Cajuns stave off the Jags.
Julien has done this all season, sprinting to missed shots to sneak in second-chance points and using his body control to get to the free-throw line, which he does more often than any non-big Cajun.
Speaking of bigs, another key in these victories has been newcomer Hosana Kitenge, whose 25-point explosion put the Cajuns clear of Arkansas State on Jan. 13.
Listed at 6-foot-7 and 270 lbs., Kitenge’s frame and stature has been a boon for the Cajuns, who anticipated a change in playstyle with the departure of their biggest bodies, Jordan Brown and Isaiah Richards, from last season.
On offense, Kitenge seems to have gotten comfortable finishing around the basket, but new facets of his game, like handling drives in transition and a shot that can hit around 15 feet out, keep defenders guessing.
“Yeah, more productive. I still want him to rebound the ball a little bit better,” head coach Bob Marlin said of Kitenge’s recent play in a Jan. 15 press conference.
“He’s scoring inside, he’s playing with confidence, he’s our leading scorer in conference play,” Marlin said. On defense, the flashes have been equally impressive, as he’s managed to rack up nine steals and five blocks so far against conference opponents. He is a knowledgeable help defender, meets his matchup high, plays with pace, and can switch and shuffle fluidly.
As if to answer Marlin, Kitenge put up a spectacular effort on the boards in Saturday’s win, finishing with 11 total including four offensive rebounds. He can box out as well as anyone and has shown willingness to dive for loose balls and wrestle with bigger opponents.
Up next, the Cajuns will head back to the Cajundome to face the Arkansas State Red Wolves on Thursday, Jan. 25.