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Men’s Basketball: UL beats Coastal to get Sun Belt tourney home game + photo galleryTim Buckley, The Advertiser, Mar. 4, 2020 Click here for game photo gallery. The incentive was plentiful. Win, and UL would host its first-round Sun Belt Conference Tournament game. Lose, and the Ragin’ Cajuns would have to travel. Motivated to stay home, the Cajuns beat Coastal Carolina 108-101 at the Cajundome on Tuesday night behind 28 points from Cedric Russell, 24 by senior P.J. Hardy on Senior Night, 19 from Jalen Johnson, Dou Gueye’s 12-point, 11-rebound double-double and another 10 points from freshman Mylik Wilson. Related: UL needs shots to fall as the end nears for senior Hardy Buy Photo
UL’s Cedric Russell shoots from long distance on a night the Ragin’ Cajuns made 16 3-pointers in a win over Coastal Carolina. (Photo: James Mays/Special to the Advertiser) The reward: UL finished in a three-way tie with Arkansas State and Coastal Carolina for eighth place in the final 2019-20 Sun Belt regular-season standings, which after tie-breakers were settled gave the Cajuns the No. 8 and a first-round game against Arkansas State scheduled for 11 a.m. Saturday at the Cajundome. The winner of that game, which is being played early because the UL women are playing Saturday afternoon and the Harlem Globetrotters on Saturday night at the Cajundome, will advance to play at No. 5 seed Georgia Southern on Monday.
But at least the Cajuns won’t have to hit the road this week. “That was like the main focus today, yesterday, the day before: We win this game and we get a home seed,” Russell said. “The biggest thing is we hate traveling on a bus. So we (were) trying to stay home. That was really the drive.” “Everybody knew what was at stake going into the game,” Hardy added, “so I think that’s why everybody was trying to put their best foot forward.” Put it forward they did, especially from behind the long-distance line. UL tied a school record with 16 made three-pointers, last reached in November 2017 against Savannah State, after going 16-for-35 from beyond the arc. Hardy hit 5-of-10, Johnson 3-of-7, Hardy 3-of-9, Kristian Lafayette 2-of-2 and Gueye, Wesley and walk-on senior Mason Aucoin — who started and made his to open the Cajun scoring — one apiece. Related: UL’s Aucoin balances basketball, chemical engineering An especially big one came from Russell with just less than 14 minutes to go, as UL worked successfully to overcome a 16-point deficit from the final minute of the first half — its biggest comeback of the season. Russell first missed a trey try, but Gueye got the rebound and dished to Hardy, who passed back to Russell for the make to get the Cajuns to within two at 63-61. A couple possessions later Gueye scored off a steal, and when Hardy hit a 3-pointer with 11:09 left UL had the lead for good at 69-66. “I feel like the big moment … was when Dou got the ball on the offensive rebound and he kicked it to P.J. and P.J. kicked it to me,” Russell said. “It turned the whole momentum around and it gave it to us. It’s just fun to be able to do that.” It wasn’t the only moment Marlin and the Cajuns enjoyed in Tuesday’s second half, though. “Dou had a great steal, and I thought that got the crowd energized,” said Marlin, who didn’t want his team to have to travel this week either. “Mylik (Wilson) got a dunk (beforehand). “But the play (Russell was) talking about was a huge play. … Dou (Gueye) had to fight and tip and then kick it and (Hardy) got (Russell) the open 3. “They were all big,” Marlin added. “Trajan (Wesley) hit one, Kristian Lafayette hit one in the corner. … All those plays were momentum plays.” More: UL’s Gueye dared to leave home in Senegal FIRST HALFRussell had 14 for UL during a first half that Coastal Carolina led 49-39, including a big 3-pointer with 12 seconds left before the break. The Cajuns shot 42.1 percent (8-of-19) on trey tries in the half, including two makes apiece by Russell, P.J. Hardy and Jalen Johnson. NAME DROPPINGThe Cajuns again played with freshman forward Chris Spenkuch, who has been out since mid-February due to a concussion. … Starting junior big man Tirus Smith missed a fourth straight game due to a disciplinary suspension. … UL assistant coaches Neil Hardin and Jostin Crow, along with newly named director of student-athlete development Anthony Goldwire, all were out Tuesday due to what Marlin called “the flu.” RECORDSUL: (13-18, 8-12 in the Sun Belt). Coastal Carolina: (15-16, 8-12). THE TOURNAMENTThe Sun Belt on Tuesday, as expected, that the city of Pensacola, Florida, has been picked to host the 2021-25 SBC men’s and women’s basketball tournaments as a part of a partnership with Pensacola Sports. With the five-year agreement, the league will return to 12-team formats for both men’s and women’s tourneys. In 2021, both tournaments are scheduled for March 5-8 with first-round and second-round games played simultaneously at the Pensacola Bay Center and Hartsell Arena on the campus of Pensacola State College and semifinal and championship games played at the Bay Center. The men’s title game will be carried by either ESPN or ESPN2 and women’s game will air live on ESPNU. This season, only the men’s semifinal games and championship games will be played at the Smooth King Center in New Orleans, with other earlier round games play at on-campus sites. In recent previous seasons, only play-in games were played at on-campus sites for the men and all other qualifying men’s teams played at Lakefront Arena in New Orleans.
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