HOW THE WEST WAS WON

• The Cajuns started off conference play, dropping 5 of the first 6 games with four of those contests coming on the road.
• Starting with La.-Monroe on Jan. 22, UL has won a school record 10-straight Sun Belt games to claim a share of the West Division title with Arkansas State. It is the fifth time in the program’s history, that the Cajuns finished atop the West Division.
• During the impressive run, UL has won four games on the road (at South Alabama, at FAU, at FIU and at ULM) – the most SBC road wins since 2007-08.

PLAYING TO THE CROWD

• Louisiana led the Sun Belt this past season for home attendance, averaging 3,919 for all games and 4,742 for Sun Belt games.
• Since 2001-02, the Cajuns are 25-2 on the court when attendance is over 5,000 at the Cajundome (10 wins were later vacated due to NCAA sanctions).
• The 8,066 fans that showed up for the home finale against Denver was the 13th largest crowd for the Cajuns at the Cajundome and the third largest since 2001-02.
• The WKU game’s crowd of 7,071 at the Cajundome was the sixth largest home crowd since 2001-02.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN

• UL won its fourth consecutive road win last Saturday at La.-Monroe (2/26). The last time the Cajuns rattled off four road wins was during the 2004-05 season, but due to NCAA sanctions they were later vacated. Prior to that, UL won five in-a-row on the road in 1999-2000.
• In their last four road wins, the Cajuns are outscoring opponents, 70.2-62.0 (?8.3) and controlling the glass 40.8-30.0 (?10.8).
• For the first time since 2004-05, the Cajuns claimed their third straight road win with a 72-64 victory at FAU.
• The 72-68 win at FIU marked the first time the Cajuns have won back-to-back road wins since the 2007-08 season.
• The overtime win at South Alabama was the first road win in 365 days and covered 15 games away from the Cajundome. The last road win came exactly one year before at Louisiana-Monroe.

IT’S 5:00 SOMEWHERE

• When leading with 5:00 to go in the game, the Cajuns are 12-0.
• When trailing with 5:00 to go, UL is 2-12 with both wins coming in overtime – (at South Alabama, vs. Denver)
• In the 14 wins, UL is outscoring opponents 12.2 to 10.7 in the final 300 seconds
• In the 14 wins, the Cajuns have been adept at getting to the free throw line in the final five minutes, going 92-of-121 (.760) compared to the opponents 43-for-56 (.768).

WARRIORS…. COME OUT AND PLAY

• After sitting out all last season due to a gruesome injury suffered in the final game of the 2008-09 season, La’Ryan Gary has begun to make a significant impact, scoring in double-figures in nine games during the 11-game win streak.
• During the Cajuns’ 11-game win streak, Gary is averaging 13.3 ppg and shooting 52.7 percent
• In his final game at the Cajundome against Denver on Senior Night, Gary put on a career-best performance – scoring a personal-best 22 points, made a career-high 12 free throws, swatted a career-high five blocks in a career-best 39 minutes of play.
• Against the Pioneers, he was responsible for seven of UL’s eight points in overtime and scored 12 in the second half alone.
• Since facing ULM, he is 36-of-41 from the free throw line (.878).
• Overall this season he is averaging 9.9 ppg compared to his 6.9 2008-09 average.
• In the win over ULM (1/22), Gary scored 18 points including a perfect 6-for-6 showing at the FT line.
• Versus the Blue Raiders, he posted a team-high 20 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The point total set a new season-high and tied his career best.

THE SUN BELT FEARS THE BEARD

• After scoring 20 points in back-to-back games, J.J. Thomas was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week (2/21).
• In the win over Arkansas State, Thomas led UL with 20 points on 46.7 percent shooting (7-15). He also knocked down a pair of crucial free throws with :06 left to seal the win.
• Against WKU, the true freshman put up 25 points, scoring 13 of the Cajuns’ first 19 points.
• Shot 50.0 percent from the floor for the week (17-34) and 76.9 from the free throw line (10-13)
• It is the first weekly honor from the league for Thomas and the first for the Cajuns this season.
• He was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Assoc. Player of the Week earlier this season (1/24).

FEAR THE BEARD

• J.J. Thomas is quickly becoming one of the top freshman in the Sun Belt this year.
• He has scored double figures in 9 of the last 11 games and is averaging 13.1 ppg in league contests.
• Thomas scored a game-high 20 points on 7-of-15 shooting in the win over Arkansas State and followed up with 25 more in the win over WKU.
• In the road win at South Alabama, Thomas set a career-high 28 points, knocking down 11 field goals while grabbing 13 rebounds. It was his fifth double-double this season and his fourth in the month of January.
• Earlier in January, he had back-to-back-to-back double-doubles against Centenary, Arkansas State and UALR. It was the first time a player had three-straight double-double since 2005-06 when Dwayne Mitchell accomplished the feat.
• At UALR, the freshman scored 11 points while dominating the glass with 16 rebounds. At the time, it was the most rebounds by a UL player since Valentino Hart had 17 against Tennessee in 06-07.
• At Arkansas State he scored a game-high 16 points with a team-best 10 rebounds.
• In his first double-double against Texas College, the freshman guard scored 15 points and 11 rebounds in 30 minutes of action. All of his 15 points came in the second half where he was 5-for-8 from the floor.

B.B.B. – BETTER BASKETBALL BUREAU

• Travis Bureau is playing some of the best ball of his career, averaging 11.5 ppg and 8.8 boards during the 11-game winning streak.
• In conference play, he has been the leading rebounder seven times with UL holding a 6-1 record in those games.
• Against Arkansas State (2/17), Bureau posted 12 rebounds, grabbing 10 in the first half.
• At FIU (2/10), Bureau scored a game-high 18 pts.
• He scored a season-high 23 points including the game winning free throw with less than a second remaining against UALR (2/5). Also had 11 boards to rack up his fourth double-double.
• Against South Alabama (1/30), Bureau grabbed a career-high 20 boards. It was the first time a Cajun player has recorded 20 rebounds since Dwayne Mitchell in 2005-06.
• In the win over North Texas, he notched his third double-double with 15 pts and 10 rebs.
• In his 1st start since Dec. 12, Bureau scored a game-high 22 points in 93-91 win over Troy.
• As the Cajuns’ leading scorer against Troy, the senior forward connected on 8-of-11 from the floor, including 2-for-4 from 3-pt range. He also led the squad with seven rebounds in a team-high 34 minutes.
• Tallied his 2nd career double-double at McNeese after scoring 17 pts and 10 rebs.
• Posted his first career double-double in the win over Louisiana College (11/15). He also set a new career-best for rebounds in the 16-point, 14-board performance.

WELCOME TO THE 1,000 POINT CLUB

• At 6:04 in the first half against North Texas, Randell Daigle made history scoring his 1,001th career point.
• He is the 39th player in school history to reach the plateau and just the fourth since 2000.
• He currently sits at 1,063 points in 107 games and ranks 33rd all-time.
• With 225 made three-pointers over his career, he ranks 11th in Sun Belt history.

BROWN IS BACK

• Josh Brown has been productive since missing four games from Jan. 8 – Jan. 19.
• In his first start since Jan. 1, he scored 12 points and seven rebounds in season finale win at La.-Monroe.
• Against the WKU Hilltoppers (2/19), the junior transfer went 5-for-9 to finish with 11 points.
• In the win at FIU (2/10), Brown was 5-of-7 from the floor for 13 points.
• In the upset of North Texas (1/27), Brown scored 11 points, had four boards, two assists, a block and a steal.
• He had 12 points off the bench in the win over La.-Monroe (1/22).
• He has missed a total of eight games this season due to injury but in 12 games played he has reached double-figures nine times .
• After missing four games early in the season, Brown scored 20 points off the bench in the comeback win against Lamar (12/19). He was 8-of-14 from the floor, scoring 11 in the second half.

NO PLACE LIKE THE ‘DOME

• The Cajuns are currently 10-4 at home this season and 7-1 against SBC opponents.
• In all 14 games, UL is currently averaging 78.2 ppg compared to a 69.0 ppg average for the opponent (?8.9).
• The Cajuns currently hold a 15-1 record against Sun Belt opponents on their home court, dating back to last season. The sole loss was a 91-93 overtime decision against Middle Tennessee (1/8/11).
• This season the Ragin’ Cajuns posted a 10-4 record in the Cajundome – the 16 consecutive season with a .500 mark or better.
• UL finished undefeated at the Cajundome in SBC play with a 9-0 mark last season. Only once before has UL posted a perfect record at the ‘Dome in the SBC (7-0 in 2001-02).
• Including this season, the Cajuns have recorded a winning record at home in 34 of the previous 36 seasons.

GLASS CLEANERS

• In 10 games this season, UL has racked up at least 40 rebounds. The Cajuns are 5-5 when pulling down at least 40 boards.
• Most recently against ULM (2/26), the Cajuns had 40 boards with a 10 rebound effort from J.J. Thomas.
• At UALR (1/15) and South Alabama (1/30), UL grabbed at least 40 boards, tying a season-high of 49 at South Alabama.
• At New Mexico State, the Cajuns dominated the glass out-rebounding the Aggies, 48-23. On the offensive glass, UL pulled down 23 boards – the same number as the Aggies’ entire rebounding effort.
• Versus Texas College, UL recorded a season-high 49 rebounds compared to the Steers’ 29, including a 23-3 edge on the offensive glass.
• At Creighton, UL pulled down 45 boards compared to the Jays’ 46.
• Against Louisiana College, UL grabbed 46 boards, out-rebounding Wildcats by 15.

FREE FOR ALL

• From Feb. 5-17, the Cajuns were hot from the charity stripe. Starting with the FIU game, in the last three minutes of the next three games, UL was a perfect 18-of-18. Against FIU and Arkansas State, the Cajuns were 26-of-26 in the second half alone.
• In the second half against Arkansas State, UL went 16-of-16 from the free throw line.
• At Florida Atlantic, the Cajuns were a perfect 16-of-16, extending a streak of 28 made free throws that dated back to the FIU game.
• UL hit 10-of-10 in the final two minutes at FIU to seal the win.
• UL made the second-most free throws of the season in the win over UALR. The Cajuns were 30-of-38 from the line (.789). The most crucial of the chip shots came with :00.6 remaining as Travis Bureau hit two to lift UL to a one-point win.
• In the overtime loss to Middle Tennessee, the Cajuns hit a season-high 32 free throws.

SILENT M

• Freshman Bryant Mbamalu has slowly worked himself into the starting rotation and is making the most of his increase in minutes.
• In 17 starts, he has reached double figures in five games
• Against Centenary, the freshman guard scored a career-high 20 points, including 16 in the second half, after going 10-of-14 from the floor.
• At Arkansas State, Mbamalu put up 11 points while grabbing 6 rebounds.
• Against Troy, the freshman guard had 11 points on a 4-of-6 effort.
• At New Mexico State, he led UL with a game-high 16 points on 7-of-11 shooting.
• Against Lamar, Mbamalu led the squad with 11 rebounds, his first double-digit effort.