Men’s Basketball: Cajuns enjoy record-setting night

Joshua Parrott • Jparrott@theadvertiser.com • January 12, 2009

On Saturday night in rural southeastern Alabama, the UL men’s basketball team assaulted the school record books in an 83-81 win over Troy. 

The Cajuns did most of their damage from the outside, tearing up the nets with 15 3-pointers. That tied the program’s single-game record set against Western Kentucky on March 2, 1996 and matched against Ohio State on Dec. 1, 1996.

While UL fell just short of setting a school record, something else became apparent for the Cajuns (6-9 overall, 3-2 Sun Belt) in their first road victory of the season.

They need big contributions from versatile forward Tyren Johnson to find success. That makes sense considering UL coach Robert Lee called him the team’s "glue guy" back in the preseason.

Through the first 15 games of the season, the 6-foot-8 junior is averaging eight points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.73 blocked shots.

In UL’s six victories, Johnson has come up big, averaging 11.3 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.2 blocked shots per game.

The Cajuns are at their best when Johnson is at his. He set career highs with 21 points, eight made field goals, three blocked shots (since broken) and 40 minutes played in a 79-75 win over Oral Roberts in overtime on Nov. 25.

In UL’s following game, a 73-64 win over McNeese State, Johnson scored 15 points – his second-highest point total of the season.

Troy realized how dangerous Johnson can be over the weekend. He nearly posted a triple-double with 13 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists and hit two free throws with 36 seconds left to make it a three-point game.

But even with guards Randell Daigle, Travis Bureau and Chris Gradnigo capable of raining 3s from all over the court, UL needs some sort of inside presence to keep opposing defenses honest. And with forward Jeremy Barr slowed by an allergic reaction to medication and unavailable for the past two games, the Cajuns have been left with Johnson and forwards Colby Batiste, Emmanuel Adeife and Courtney Wallace to play inside.

Batiste and Adeife can rebound and play strong defense but are raw offensively. Wallace has a nice shooting touch for a big man but is not a strong rebounder.

Johnson can do a little of everything. He is long and athletic and able to bang on the block despite weighing only 208 pounds. He can move away from the block and hit shots from the perimeter. He can rebound. He can play defense. He can block shots.

Right now, Johnson is invaluable.

Bureau and Gradnigo are easily two of the league’s top offensive weapons. Few players in the Sun Belt are more crafty and deadly as a shooter than Daigle. Ryan McCoy has the skills to be a solid point guard but must become more consistent.

UL’s X-factor right now is in the post, where Johnson is an all-around threat. The Cajuns need him to continue playing like he did against Troy and their other victories – and start with Thursday’s league matchup with West Division leader Arkansas-Little Rock (11-5, 4-1) in the Cajundome.

Joshua Parrott is the UL beat writer for The Daily Advertiser. He can be reached at (337) 289-6318 or jparrott@theadvertiser.com