Cajuns cannot buy a basket in a crushing overtime loss 62-58 

The Cajuns were coming off of a big win on the road against the Texas State Bobcats (70-61). I’m not one to jump to conclusions, but they may be reading my articles. 

Last week I shared my thoughts about their unwillingness to space the floor and inability to hit quality perimeter shots. This game simply debunked those critiques. 

Louisiana combined for 10 threes on 17 attempts behind the marksmanship of guards Chancellor White and Kentrell Garnett. White was a monster off the bench with 14 points and four made threes. 

Garnett, in usual fashion, contributed to the long-range assault with three makes from distance. The apparent differences that led to the Cajun victory was scoring on transition and the bench production. 

The Cajuns had 15 fastbreak points to the Bobcats’ five. The Louisiana bench also outscored Texas State’s 35-26. 

Bobcats guard, Kaden Gumbs, had a game-high 17 points to go along with six rebounds and two steals. He was the only player to have consistent success against the rugged Cajun defense. 

With the Cajuns shooting at a season-high 58.8% from three in the win, there was a lot to build off of as they headed back to the Cajundome for a date with the 14-8 South Alabama Jaguars. 

One thing that stuck with the Cajuns from last game was their hunger to shoot the ball. 

They were advantageous in their shot selections as proven by the attempts alone. They attempted 17 threes in their win against the Bobcats, surpassing that mark in just the first half alone. 

The Jaguars weren’t far behind with 14 attempts but the difference was in the results. They shot an abysmal 7.1% from deep compared to the Cajuns’ respectable 38.9%. With a shooting split that bad it was no surprise that Louisiana was up 31-18 at half. 

Now, the average fan would look at that score and be pretty comfortable with the margin going into the second half. However, knowing the context of shots and the level of difficulty on some of them, the Ragin’ Cajuns’ lead didn’t seem too sustainable. 

One of the reasons South Alabama has been so good this year is because of their impenetrable zone defense, and they ran it all night against us. They played great defense in the first half, forcing us into a couple late shot clock scenarios and deep contested threes. 

It just so happened our shots were falling. In the second half, the Jaguars did the exact same thing but the results were more in their favor. 

It was really a tale of two halves, with the Cajuns pulling the short end of the stick. They attempted 19 more threes in the second half but only made four of them. The Jaguars didn’t shoot nearly as many but were slightly more efficient going 3-10. 

However, that’s not why they came back. It was the efforts of guard Myles Corey off the bench. He didn’t shoot particularly well, especially at the free throw line, but it was his energy that kept the Jaguars in it. 

He was a blur on transition, applying constant pressure on the back-pedaling Louisiana defense. He got to the paint almost at will, drawing fouls left and right, which in turn left the Cajuns disgruntled. 

The combination of Corey’s lightning pace and the Jaguars’ stingy defense made room for a 12-2 run that brought South Alabama back to within three points with 12:35 remaining. 

The game would continue to go back and forth until Cajuns suddenly stopped raging. It was an absolutely catastrophic conclusion, and that might be an understatement. 

After a made three-pointer by Christian Wright with 6:42 remaining, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns would go on to not make a single field goal for the remainder of regulation. They only scored three points, all from the charity stripe. 

In over six minutes of action, the Cajuns went 0-8 from the field. And in that timespan, South Alabama tied the game 56-56, forcing overtime. 

In overtime, the snowball effect continued. It was so ice-cold that Cajun fans were reminiscing about the blizzard from a couple weeks ago. 

Mo El Moutaouakkil started the period off strong with an aggressive layup, getting the crowd out of their seats. 

However, that would be the last time the fans were out of their seats for anything positive. 

That basket was made at the 4:43 mark of the overtime period. As if according to plan, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns would proceed to not make a single point after that. 

Not a layup, a jumper, a floater, a fade-away corner three or even a simple granny shot from half-court. Why not call down a drunk fan to get a bucket? 

We need investigators to dig into the South Alabama bench because there must have been some level of Space Jam sorcery that took away Louisiana’s skills. 

Sure, I didn’t think our offense in the first half was sustainable enough, but to go on two separate dry spells in the clutch is inexcusable. 

Surprisingly, it wasn’t hard for the Jaguars to outscore us in overtime as they finished the night victorious (62- 58). 

Granted we faced a top conference opponent, but we simply had no answer for their zone down the stretch. Guys looked lost and stood around for almost entire possessions leading to poor shot quality. 

Next game, the Cajuns will be going on the road to visit the (11-12) Georgia Southern Eagles on Wednesday, Feb. 5.