Cajuns get defensive in rematch with Coastal Carolina

As they ended February with an 83-70 win over Coastal Carolina on Thursday night at the Cajundome, the memory of what happened to start the month was firmly etched in Ragin’ Cajun minds.

On Feb. 2 up at Coastal, UL fell 96-79 to the Chanticleers — the midst of a three-game losing streak in which the Cajuns were yielding an average of 101.0 points per game.

“It was eating on my mind that we played bad there,” said UL point forward JaKeenan Gant, who finished with a team-high 29 points Thursday. “So it was important for us to (not do) what we did in the last game.”

“It left a sour taste in our mouth,” UL point guard Marcus Stroman added with reference to the 17-point loss in Conway, South Carolina. “We know what they did to us, and we came out fighting.”

Did they ever.

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The Cajuns jumped to a 14-0 lead on Coastal Carolina, and led by as many as 23 — 59-36 — after a Jerekius Davis bucket with 11 minutes and 39 seconds remaining.

But Coastal Carolina got back to within seven when Ebrima Dibba hit a pair of free throws with 6:25 to go.

Gant answered right away with a pair of freebies of his own, and after Trajan Wesley — in at the point because Stroman had fouled out — hit the first of two foul shots with 3:15 left the UL advantage never dipped back below double digits.

“We bent, didn’t break. Wished we had won the second half; lost it by two,” Cajuns coach Bob Marlin said. “But we still had another great defensive effort, holding a team to 70 points. … Our guys did what they needed to do.”

Since its three-game losing streak in late January and early February, a stretch that also included defeats at Appalachian State and to Georgia Southern, UL is yielding just 69.2 points per game.

The 17-11 Cajuns have won 4-of-5 during that span.

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“I feel like it’s behind us,” Stroman said of the losing ways.

“We know what’s in front of us (with three regular-season games remaining before the Sun Belt Conference Tournament), and we just focus on the future, and just are coming out and playing defense. That’s what it is, really.”

So what’s the difference?

“I feel like we trust each other more,” shooting guard Cedric Russell said. “After that trip, we had a group discussion and it was basically about our defense. And I feel like that definitely helped us.”

So does Marlin.

And just in the nick of time.

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“The bond’s getting stronger with the guys,” he said, “and we’re having energy on defense.

“I told them before the game, tomorrow’s March. So, it’s here. It’s time.”

But that wasn’t Marlin’s only pregame message to the Cajuns, who are now 8-7 in Sun Belt play and tied for fifth with UL Monroe — but no longer 13-14, 7-8 Coastal Carolina.

“We talked about it,” Marlin said of the loss at Coastal.

“We mentioned that during film. Our transition defense was poor during that game. We didn’t match up with the shooters, and that’s an area we’ve gotten better at. That and rebounding have really helped us on the defensive end.”

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FIRST HALF

Gant had six points including a couple dunks, Stroman five and Russell three during UL’s initial 14-0 run.

The Cajuns shot 60 percent from the field in the half despite being 2-of-8 from 3-point range.

Gant had 12 points at the break.

Gant and Stroman combined for 18 of UL’s first 21 points, including a dunk by Gant to get things going.

BY THE NUMBERS

Russell added 14 points; Stroman had 13 and a game-high eight assists. … Gant is now just five points shy of 1,000 points in his two-season Cajun career. … Junior shooting guard P.J. Carter hit his 100th career 3-pointer late in the first half. … UL limited Coastal Carolina to just four made 3-pointers on 4-of-18 shooting from behind the long-distance line, which is less than the 8.3 makes per game that the Chanticleers were averaging on the season. … Attendance was announced at 3,697.

UP NEXT

In its final home game of the regular season, Senior Day for the Cajuns, UL plays host to Appalachian State at 1:30 p.m. Sunday.

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