Men’s Basketball: Julien Scores 18 in First Half as Louisiana Men’™s Basketball Downs McNeese, 83-68

LAFAYETTE – Redshirt freshman Kobe Julien scored 18 first-half points to lead Louisiana Men’s Basketball past McNeese, 83-68 Wednesday night at the Cajundome.
 
Finishing the game with 20, Julien was a perfect 4-4 from beyond the arc and added an explosive chase-down block midway through the first half.
 
Sophomore Jordan Brown provided a dominant force down low, recording his fifth career double-double and his first in a Louisiana uniform, with 16 points and a career-high 16 rebounds.
 
Stepping up in the absence of Theo Akwuba, freshman forward Isaiah Richards scored 10 points on 5-7 shots and tallied seven rebounds.
 
Freshman Kentrell Garnett and senior Dou Guye each finished with nine points apiece with Garnett burying three shots from downtown and Guye contributing six rebounds.
 
Julien got right to work following the opening tip, nailing a triple on Louisiana’s first possession. McNeese wasted no time generating offense, quickly answering with an 8-0 run.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns battled back with Julien hitting three 3-pointers in under two minutes to give Louisiana a 23-21 advantage at the halfway point of the first half.
 
The Cowboys remained aggressive and took a four-point lead with just over seven minutes before the half, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Garnett sparked a suffocating 20-4 run that was capped off by an ally-oop dunk by Brown.
 
McNeese never recovered in the final 20 minutes as Louisiana continued to attack the rim and inflated the point differential to 25 with just under six minutes remaining.
 
Freshman and Carencro, La. native, Joe Charles took advantage of meaningful second-half minutes scoring eight points on a pair of 3-pointers and a thunderous put-back dunk that received a visible reaction from the Cajuns bench and those in attendance.
 
Louisiana limited the Cowboys leading scorer, junior Brendan Medley-Bacon to just two points in 20 minutes. Medley-Bacon was averaging 11 points per game entering the contest.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns will be back in action at 11 a.m. Saturday when they travel to Ruston, La. To face Louisiana Tech. The game will be broadcast on ESPNU.
 
For the latest on Louisiana Men’s Basketball, stay tuned to RaginCajuns.com and follow the team on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (RaginCajunsMBB).