Men’s Basketball: Ragin’ Cajuns Rally To Win Seventh Straight against UNO, 66-63

Russell reaches 1,000-point mark; Akwuba with double-double

NEW ORLEANS – Mylik Wilson scored 16 of his game-high 21 points in the second half and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns Men’s Basketball used a 22-4 run to rally past in-state rival New Orleans, 66-63, on Wednesday at Lakefront Arena.
 
Cedric Russell scored 12 points to become the 49^th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark in Ragin’ Cajuns history while Theo Akwuba notched his first double-double in a Louisiana uniform with 16 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.
 
The win was the seventh in a row for Louisiana (1-1) over its former Sun Belt Conference rival and its third straight against the Privateers in New Orleans. Keeping in tune with a close series in games played at Lakefront Arena, Louisiana improved to 5-2 in the last seven road contests with all five wins coming by a combined 17 points.
 
Louisiana trailed 15-6 midway through the first half and 26-19 before Devin Butts drained his first career 3-pointer to start a 6-0 run over the final 1:56.
 
The Ragin’ Cajuns continued their run in the second half, opening with a 16-4 run that was capped by Russell’s 3-pointer with 13:51 remaining.
 
New Orleans (0-3) rallied to take a 56-55 lead on Rodney Carson’s jumper with 2:17 remaining before later adding a game-tying 3-pointer with 48.9 seconds left.
 
But Wilson put Louisiana ahead to stay on the ensuing possession with a three-point play with 45.4 seconds left before combining with Russell and Dou Gueye to make four free throws down the stretch.
 
Akwuba, who scored 22 points in his debut against top-ranked Baylor last Saturday, went 6-for-9 from the floor and 4 of 5 from the free throw line as Louisiana went 14-for-20 from the free throw line. The 6-foot-11 junior grabbed six of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 10 offensive rebounds while blocking three shots and recording a pair of steals.
 
Russell finished 4-for-11 from the floor for Louisiana and extended his career-point total to an even 1,000. Gueye scored seven points and grabbed seven boards for Louisiana while Brayan Au dished out a game-high six assists.
 
Damion Rosser led New Orleans with 18 points and 10 rebounds with Troy Green adding 12 points and Lamont Berzat 10. Carson came off the bench to add 11 points for the Privateers, who finished 25-for-61 (41.0 percent) from the floor and 6-for-20 from behind the 3-point line.
 
Louisiana will officially open its 2020-21 home schedule on Saturday at 4 p.m., against a to-be-named opponent.
 
The Cajundome will operate at a significantly reduced capacity for the 2020-21 season (unless state COVID-19 policy changes during the season). This will allow for fans and University students to be accommodated this season. The Department of Athletics will quickly communicate any schedule adjustments or changes to attendance protocols through its social media channels and RaginCajuns.com.
 
Getting tickets for Ragin’ Cajuns Men’s Basketball is available through mobile ticketing from Ticketmaster. Download the #GeauxCajuns app on your smart phone to begin the process.
 
For more information on Men’s Basketball tickets, fans can call the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 265-2170.
 
Follow the Ragin’ Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsMBB), Facebook (RaginCajunsMBB) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsMBB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Men’s Basketball.