NEW ORLEANS Louisiana-Lafayettes Michael Southall picked up his seventh double-double of the season to lead the Ragin Cajuns to a 74-59 quarterfinal win over Arkansas State at the 2002 Sun Belt Conference mens basketball tournament. The leagues Freshman of the Year finished the night with 21 points and 11 rebounds, as UL will advance to the quarterfinals on Monday to face the New Orleans-Arkansas at Little Rock winner.
We knew it was going to be a typical tournament game, said Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Jessie Evans. In the second half, I though we came out more intense defensively. I thought we got some key stops. About the middle part of the second half, we just caught a second wind, dug in defensively and we just got the job done.
After Southalls game-high in points, Anthony Johnson ended the contest with 17. Laurie Bridges collected 14 for the Cajuns, while Brad Boyd had 11 points and five assists.
Nick Rivers and Jason Jennings led the Indians with 12 points each. Jennings also added two blocks to give his 101 on the season. With the redirections, Jennings became the first Sun Belt player to record back-to-back 100-block seasons.
I got real winded in the first half and didnt quite have my legs, said Southall. (Jason) Jennings is probably the best post player I have played against in my whole life. I was just trying to rise to his level, him being a senior and me being a freshman.
With the game tied at 44-44 with 12:11 remaining in the second half, Anthony Johnsons dunk began a 22-8 run for the Cajuns over the next 8:00 minutes. During that span, Southall contributed with seven points and UL got 3-point buckets from Boyd and Bridges and two from Johnson.
With the win, UL has now improved to 19-9 on the season, while the Indians ended their season at 15-16.
At UNO Lakefront Arena
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE 74, ARKANSAS STATE 59
ARKANSAS STATE
JENNINGS, Jason 5-10 2-2 12; RIVERS, Nick 5-16 0-0 12; WEAVER, Kolin 3-5 2-3 9; BRAGG, Juran 2-6 3-4 7; BROWN, Tony 2-8 0-0 6; ADAMS, Kim 3-5 0-0 6; SOKOLOV, Evgueni 1-2 0-0 3; WILLIAMS, Odie 1-4 0-0 2; REED,Jonathan 1-2 0-0 2; BECK, Jon 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 23-59 7-9 59.
LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE
SOUTHALL, Michael 9-15 3-8 21; JOHNSON, Anthony 6-11 3-4 17; BRIDGES, Laurie 5-13 2-2 14; BOYD, Brad 3-8 4-4 11; ROBINS, Darryl 2-6 2-4 6; WHITING, Shea 2-2 0-0 4; LAWRENCE, Kenneth 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 27-56 15-24 74.
Arkansas State...... 35 24 - 59
Louisiana-Lafayette. 30 44 - 74
3-point goals-Arkansas State 6-17 (RIVERS, Nick 2-7; BROWN, Tony 2-3; WEAVER, Kolin 1-3; SOKOLOV, Evgueni 1-1; BECK, Jon 0-1; WILLIAMS, Odie 0-1; BRAGG, Juran 0-1), Louisiana-Lafayette 5-13 (BRIDGES, Laurie 2-5; JOHNSON, Anthony 2-4; BOYD, Brad 1-4). Fouled out--Arkansas State-None, Louisiana-Lafayette-None. Rebounds-Arkansas State 36 (ADAMS, Kim 13),
Louisiana-Lafayette 36 (SOUTHALL, Michael 11). Assists-Arkansas State 9 (REED,Jonathan 5), Louisiana-Lafayette 14 (BOYD, Brad 5). Total fouls-Arkansas State 19, Louisiana-Lafayette 15.
--Sun Belt--