Men’s Basketball: Confidence found

Men’s Basketball: Confidence found

Men’s Basketball: Confidence found

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • February 8, 2011

UL’s five-game winning streak shows exactly what a little confidence can do to boost a team and its players and coaches.

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UL defeated UALR, 67-66, Saturday at the Cajundome. With a winning streak going, the Cajuns are playing with confidence. (Denny Culbert/dculbert@theadvertiser.com)

Since single-digit losses at Arkansas State and Arkansas-Little Rock nearly a month ago, the Ragin’ Cajuns (8-14, 5-5 Sun Belt) have won five straight games — the program’s best streak since the 2005-06 season.

The winning streak, which included Saturday’s 67-66 home win over UALR, is the longest active streak in the Sun Belt and has made them the league’s hottest team going into the final month of the regular season.

UL hits the road this week to play Florida International (9-14, 4-7) on Thursday and Sun Belt leader Florida Atlantic (18-7, 10-1) on Saturday.

"I just think there’s a lot more confidence for everyone," UL senior forward La’Ryan Gary said. "We have more confidence in our coaches. Our coaches have more confidence in us. We’re more confident in each other, and we’re playing harder."

The improved effort has turned the tide of what appeared to be a lost season at the end of December.

According to first-year coach Bob Marlin, he saw things start to change after a lackluster 17-point loss at North Texas on Jan. 1. That loss dropped the Cajuns, who had played eight of 13 at that point on the road, to 2-11 overall and 0-2 in conference play.

Relief came in the form of a two-game home stand during the second week of January. After beating Troy, 93-91, on Jan. 6, UL fell to Middle Tennessee in overtime two days later, 93-91.

The Cajuns went on the road the following week and lost to Arkansas State, 74-65, on Jan. 13 and UALR, 73-68, on Jan. 15. They had a chance to win both games but didn’t help themselves by shooting only 40.5 percent from the floor and 56.8 percent on free throws in those losses.

UL earned only its fourth victory of the season on Jan. 19 at home with a 94-62 blowout of Centenary. The Cajuns followed with four straight wins by single digits, all in conference play.

They knocked off UL Monroe, 84-75, on Jan. 22 and reigning Sun Belt tournament champion North Texas, 93-88, on Jan. 27 in the Cajundome. UL then edged South Alabama in overtime, 76-70, on Jan. 30 before beating UALR on Saturday.

The victory over South Alabama snapped a 15-game losing streak on the road for the Cajuns dating back to last January.

"When we were losing we had no confidence," said UL senior guard/forward Travis Bureau, whose two free throws with 0.6 seconds left sealed Saturday’s one-point win over UALR. "When we got that win against Centenary and started this winning streak, we became a whole new team with a whole new swagger.

"Now we have a lot of confidence."

This recent hot streak has helped erase some of UL’s pain from missed opportunities earlier in the season, particularly in losses to Creighton, Cleveland State, Houston, McNeese State, Tulane, Texas College and New Mexico State.

"We know that we could have won a lot of the games that we lost earlier in the season," Gary said. "We’re just trying to make the most of our opportunities. A lot of people don’t think that we’re a good team. They look at our record and think they can beat us. We definitely have a chip on our shoulder."

The Cajuns are currently tied for third in the Sun Belt’s West Division with North Texas and UALR behind Denver (11-12, 7-3) and Arkansas State (13-13, 7-4). With six games left in the regular season, UL can still make a run for the West Division title by continuing its strong play over the next few weeks.

"It’s a confidence factor," Marlin said. "Guys are playing with confidence now. We’ve been able to make some plays and finish (games)."