SBC Tourney: UL vs. W. Kentucky

Game: 6:45, tonight, Summit Arena, Hot Springs, Ark.
Records: UL 14-14, 11-5; WKU 15-15, 8-8.
Last meeting: UL 67-64 on Feb. 19.
TV: None.
Radio: 107.9 FM/1420 AM.
Live stats: Ragincajuns.com.
Live video: sunbeltsports.org.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — One last chance for one shining moment.

That’s what the Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball tournament will offer UL seniors Randell Daigle, Travis Bureau and La’Ryan Gary.

Three years ago, they helped the Ragin’ Cajuns win a share of the Sun Belt’s West Division title. After coach Bob Marlin replaced Robert Lee last spring, the trio played a major role this season as an 11-game winning streak turned a 3-14 start into another West Division co-championship and a first-round bye in the league tournament."We built some chemistry and everything started to come together," Bureau said. "We started winning and now we don’t want to lose."

Right now they’re focused on extending the nation’s second-longest active winning streak and securing the program’s first postseason trip since the 2004-05 season. To do that, the Cajuns need to win three games over the next three days.To get this far, those three seniors encountered a number of challenges bigger than wins and losses on the court.

Becoming a man

Daigle, who like Gary is a fifth-year senior, faced his first hurdle long before enrolling at UL.When he was 12, doctors diagnosed him with Type I (insulin-dependent) diabetes. Daigle had to take insulin shots to regulate his blood sugar.

"I really didn’t know what it was at first," Daigle said. "I had family members who had it. I just had to adapt to it."By the time Daigle arrived at UL, the Northside grad had to wear an insulin pump 24 hours a day except for during games and practice. He also had to sit out his first year in college, the 2006-07 season, to become academically eligible.The following season he played the most minutes for the Sun Belt West Division co-championship team. It was the early high point of his collegiate career.Then he became a father to a boy, Ethan, on March 2, 2009.

Daigle earned a fifth year of eligibility after the 2009-10 season by completing 80 percent of his degree requirements. Named a team captain this season along with Gary and Josh Brown, Daigle joined the 1,000-point club in January and is currently 11th in Sun Belt history with 225 3-pointers made.

In May, he is set to earn his degree. That day will be a celebration of his perseverance over the years.

"Having diabetes, sitting out that first year and then having a son in college really helped me mature," Daigle said. "All of that has tied into one and made me into the man that I am today."

Inspirational return

For Gary, sitting out his first year of college to restore his academic eligibility was tough.

But nothing could prepare the Carencro grad for what happened in the final game of the 2008-09 season.Just before halftime in a first-round Sun Belt tournament game against Florida International, Gary suffered a gut-churning injury to his left leg. He had a torn patella tendon, dislocated knee cap, broken tibia and torn knee ligaments.

"There were so many things going through my head," Gary said. "I just prayed for God to keep everything straight."Gary had surgery that same night and against all odds was back on track to play again the following December. Unfortunately an MRI that fall revealed a torn meniscus. Another surgery was needed — and would postpone his comeback.

Looking for guidance, he turned to his mother, Janelle Gary."She kept telling me that everything was going to be okay and to give it over to God," Gary said. "That put me in the right frame of mind to keep fighting."

And he did. Gary had to sit out the 2009-10 season but helped the team as a student coach and never gave up the hope of playing again.Like Daigle, Gary earned a fifth year of eligibility over the summer. He went into this season looking to contribute 10-15 minutes a night but surpassed expectations, averaging a career-high 9.9 points in 20 minutes per game as the team’s "heart and soul" according to Marlin.More importantly, he graduated in December."I just wanted to help this team win a championship," Gary said. "Seeing where I was and where I am now puts a smile on a lot of faces, and that means a lot to me."

Overcoming the pain

The plan when Bureau signed with the Cajuns was for him to sit out his freshman year, the 2007-08 season. That would allow him to get bigger and stronger in the weight room and be better prepared for the following year.

But after the team’s 1-6 start, Bureau told the coaches that he wanted to play. He stepped into the lineup and became a starter down the stretch for a divisional co-championship team.

Bureau became a full-time starter the following year despite a hip injury that had nagged him since his prep days at St. Amant. He averaged a career-best 12.4 points during a 10-20 campaign and suffered a number of painful losses off the court, too.According to Bureau, nine family members or close friends died during his sophomore season.

"All of those deaths really took a toll on me," Bureau said. "I was playing the best basketball I had in college when that happened. That was hard on me, but my teammates and friends and family were there and helped me through it."That hip injury flared up again last season and limited his production as his scoring dipped to 6.2 points per game.

This season, Bureau became one of the league’s top all-around players. When he was sick earlier in the season the team struggled. Eventually he got healthy and was third-team all-conference as the Cajuns closed the regular season with 11 straight wins.Bureau, expected to graduate in the fall, was seventh in the league in rebounding (seven per game) and averaged 10.2 points. He also shot career-high percentages from the floor (49.5 percent) and 3-point range (41.1 percent).

"Our players think he’s an X-factor for our team," Marlin said. "And it obviously shows."

The next step

Each of the three seniors has a plan once their playing careers end.Bureau and Daigle want to play pro ball if the opportunity is there. Gary will still play pick-up basketball but not nearly as often after college, hoping the decreased wear and tear will keep him from needing a knee replacement in the next 10 years.Their long-term career plans are similar: They want to coach and teach others about basketball. This past week they even talked about eventually coaching the Cajuns.Marlin believes in his three seniors and their dreams of joining the coaching fraternity."They all have a good understanding of the game," Marlin said. "I hope they learned some news things this year that will help them down the road. I think they could all make good coaches."

First, they have some unfinished business to address in Hot Springs.

UL coaches sizing up Hilltoppers for rematch

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • March 6, 2011

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — With a first-round bye for the Sun Belt Conference men’s basketball tournament, members of the UL coaching staff scouted their next opponent in-person Saturday night.

They watched East No. 3 seed Western Kentucky pull away late for a 66-50 win over West No. 6 seed UL Monroe.Now the Ragin’ Cajuns (14-14, 11-5 Sun Belt) put their 11-game winning streak on the line at 6:30 p.m. today against the preseason East Division favorite Hilltoppers (15-15, 8-8) in Summit Arena. UL beat WKU, 67-64, on Feb. 19 on "Fear the Beard" promotion night in the Cajundome.

WKU closed the game Saturday with a 12-0 run in the final 3:16 against ULM. The trio of Sergio Kerusch (20 points, 14 rebounds), Juan Pattillo (18 points) and Steffphon Pettigrew (15 points, 10 rebounds) accounted for 80 percent of the team’s scoring in the win."I think we showed our heart tonight," Kerusch said. "And we hustled our tails off."

Kerusch (15.3 ppg, 7.9 rpg) and Pettigrew (14.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg) both earned first-team all-conference honors this season. An Oklahoma transfer, Pattillo (13.4 ppg, 9.0 rpg) is nearly averaging a double-double."They’re real athletic," UL guard Josh Brown said. "Their big men (Pattillo and Pettigrew) can move and shoot. We’re going to have to come out hungry."

Freshman forward J.J. Thomas scored 25 points for the Cajuns in the regular-season win over WKU. Thomas scored 13 points in the first eight minutes to spot UL a 19-6 lead.The Hilltoppers cut the deficit to 61-59 with 2:33 left, but Thomas responded with a three-point play as the Cajuns survived to beat their rival for the first time since the 2004-05 season.

Pettigrew logged 18 points in the loss. Pattillo (12), Kerusch (10) and Kahlil McDonald (10) also scored in double figures.Thomas, a second-team all-conference selection, paces the Cajuns in scoring this season at 11.7 points per game and is second in rebounding (6.4 rpg). Brown is second in scoring (10.6 ppg). Senior forward Travis Bureau, a third-team all-league pick, almost averages a double-double (10.2 ppg, 7.0 rpg).

"They’re physical and athletic, are well-coached and are in a rhythm right now," WKU coach Ken McDonald said. "There were a lot of things that we weren’t happy with after that last game (against the Cajuns). We want to put together a much better 40-minute effort than we did the last time."WKU has no plans to overlook the Cajuns in today’s rematch."We know that’s now it’s lose and go home," Kerusch said. "And I don’t think we’re ready to go home."

Free throws

All of the higher-seeded women’s teams won on the first day of the conference tournament "» Amy McNear led all women’s scorers on the first day with 25 points as East No. 3 seed WKU beat West No. 6 seed North Texas, 81-66 "» East No. 5 seed Troy, the 2010 Sun Belt men’s regular-season champion, completed an 8-21 campaign with an 83-69 loss to West No. 4 seed North Texas "» The ULM women won in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament for the second time. In 2009 the Warhawks beat WKU in the opening round of the league tourney.

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