Good Hunting: Ragin’ Cajuns vs. the Arkansas State Red Wolves

Despite the recent weather that Lafayette has found itself facing, many fans made their way to the Cajundome to watch the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves, but the game ended up being postponed.

Minutes before the game was set to tip off, the Cajundome began experiencing electrical issues, forcing officials to call the game off for the day and delay it till the next day. The game that was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 25 instead took place on Jan. 26. This also caused the men’s game against the Texas State Bobcats to be moved back a day till Jan. 28.

The game would start off with a foul committed by junior forward Hosana Kitenge, though Arkansas State would miss both free throws to keep the game tied at nothing. It would then be the Cajuns that scored first thanks to a layup from Kitenge.

The following ten minutes would be far more defensive than offensive as both teams played a very solid defense, a Cajun defense helped by junior forward Joe Charles who led the game with 10 rebounds, seven of those being defensive rebounds. 

The rest of the team was equally good on defense, with six of the eight players that saw the court grabbing at least two defensive rebounds. 

The Cajuns also led the game with five blocked shots, with junior forward Kobe Julien and Kitenge each recording two a piece.

11 minutes into the game, the Cajuns were still up, leading 22–18, which was what most of the first half was, the Cajuns leading but the Red Wolves always managing to stay within arms reach. 

That story would change in the last eight minutes as the Cajuns went 19–10 to end the first half, leading by 13 with a score of 41–28.

Following the half the Cajuns would score first with Joe Charles grabbing an offensive rebound and dunking it to put the Cajuns up 43–28. After four minutes the Cajuns would find themselves up by 16, their biggest lead of the day. 

The following six minutes would see both teams exchanging points at a far greater rate than the first half as players on both sides began to feel the exhaustion of the first half’s good defense.

With 10 minutes left in the game the Cajuns still found themselves up 59–44, a 15-point lead, though it would be expanded off a Joe Charles 3-point jump shot, assisted by junior guard Themus Fulks, to put the Cajuns up 62–44 before a timeout was taken by the Cajuns.

Following the timeout both teams would continue to exchange baskets with the Cajuns eventually holding a 19 point lead with eight minutes left, up 65–46. 

Now, for most teams this is where the game would be over, but no sport at this school can ever let you have a simple win. It does not help that Arkansas State did not want to lose.

The next five minutes would be all Red Wolves as they climbed back to only be down 69–62, a mere seven-point deficit.

The last three minutes were a hectic push by Arkansas State to close the remaining deficit, but the Cajuns managed to keep them at arm’s length just like at the beginning of the game, though it proved a challenge after Joe Charles was ejected before the game with his fifth foul of the game.

The Red Wolves would manage to fight back hard and come as close as four points from tying with 26 seconds left in the game. It would end with a foul on Arkansas State, allowing Julien to make two free throws that would contribute to the final score of 81–75.

Kobe Julien led the team in scoring, recording 21 points, only trailing Arkansas State’s Taryon Todd in most points in the game. Julien now leads the Sun Belt in points per game, averaging 18.2.

He had a field goal percentage of 41.6% shooting 5–12, including 1–3 on 3-pointers. His free throws were near-perfect going 10–12, meaning he was the last guy the opponents would want to foul.

That free-throw percentage is still not as good as Themus Fulks’, who went 9–10 and led the team in assists with five. This contributed to an all-around great team percentage for free throws, as the team recorded 81.3% making 26-of-32 attempted free throws.

The Cajuns also led in 3-point percentage with 41.7% made, led by junior guard Kentrell Garnett who made 3-of-5 attempts. Garnett also had a high percentage in shooting, making 4-of-7 from the field.

The Cajuns now move to 6th in the Sun Belt with a record of 5–3 in conference and move up to an overall record of 12–8. As of Sunday they have yet to take on the Texas State Bobcats due to the delay of the Arkansas State game.