Men’s Basketball: Gary relishes Cajuns’ turnaround

Men’s Basketball: Gary relishes Cajuns’ turnaround

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • March 1, 2011

Just a few minutes had passed since UL’s 61-46 win over UL Monroe on Saturday night, and La’Ryan Gary barely found enough time to think about what his team just did.

After a 3-14 start this season, the Ragin’ Cajuns (14-14, 11-5 Sun Belt) recovered to win 11 straight games — the second-longest active streak in the nation.

Saturday’s victory clinched them a share of the Sun Belt’s West Division title and a first-round bye for the league tournament, which starts Saturday in Hot Springs, Ark. The 11-game winning streak is tied for the second longest in school history, most recently reached in 1973. And the last 10 of those consecutive victories came in conference play, setting a school record.The whole situation was a bit much for Gary to digest.

"This is a special moment and a special feeling just to look at where we were at 3-14 and now being 14-14," said the senior forward from Lafayette. "I always had faith, but a lot of people never thought that we would make it this far."First-year coach Bob Marlin did.

He just needed his players to share the same frame of mind."The guys now believe in themselves, believe in our coaching staff and believe in our university," Marlin said. "It’s a credit to them. As a coach you want your guys to achieve and play at their highest level. These guys have done that, and as their coach I’m very proud of them."You could almost say that Marlin has coached two different teams this season: The Cajuns from Nov. 12-Jan. 15 and Jan. 19 until now.Few good things happened with his first team. The Cajuns struggled, going 3-14 overall and 1-5 in conference play. That included a 3-4 home mark and 0-10 effort on the road. They got outscored by 5.8 points per game, outshot 42.1 percent to 44.6 percent from the floor, made 62.4 percent of their free throws and had a negative-1.4 turnover margin.

The lowest of the lows: A 77-74 loss to NAIA Texas College on Dec. 12 in the Cajundome. Their average home attendance was 2,792. Josh Brown led the team in scoring at 13 points per game.

UL’s season officially turned around with a 94-62 blowout of Centenary on Jan. 19.

That victory sparked an 11-game winning streak. Seven of those wins were at home, with the other four on the road against Sun Belt foes. They outscored their opponents by 8.4 points per game, outshot them 46.1 percent to 41.6 percent, made 72.1 percent of their free throws and had a negative-0.2 turnover margin.Take your pick of the highs. Wins over reigning NCAA tournament participant North Texas, eventual Sun Belt champion Florida Atlantic, West Division co-champion Arkansas State and preseason East Division favorite Western Kentucky to name a few. Their average home attendance: 5,046. Opelousas native J.J. Thomas led the team in scoring at 16.1 points per game.

Thomas, who signed days before the start of the fall semester, led the team during the regular season in scoring (11.7 ppg) this season. The freshman forward was second in rebounding (6.4 per game).Brown, a junior college transfer, was second on the team in scoring (10.6 ppg) despite missing eight games with a knee injury. Senior forwards Travis Bureau (10.2 ppg, seven rpg) and La’Ryan Gary (9.9 ppg, 24 total steals) had their best all-around seasons. Gary’s contributions were even more special as he returned from a serious knee injury that sidelined him last season.With a first-round bye in the conference tournament, the Cajuns now get an extra day of rest before playing Saturday’s WKU-ULM winner at 6:45 p.m. Sunday.

They bring a load of confidence into the postseason. "Earlier in the season we weren’t convinced that we could win three games in a row," Marlin said. "I think that question has been answered now."

Athletic Network Footnote:

Click here for the photo gallery of the Jan. 21-22, 2011 Basketball Reunion
(Over 300 photos in eight links and New Stories Link has over 40 stories)

Click here for the January 18, 2003 Basketball Reunion

Click here for the Nov. 1-2, 2001 Shipley Basketball Reunion