Ragin’ Cajuns equal best home start ever with 100-79 romp over UTA

LAFAYETTE – Frank Bartley scored 25 points to lead five players in double figures and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns improved to 13-0 at home, equaling its best start in school history, in defeating UT Arlington, 100-79, in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday before an announced attendance of 5,104 at the Cajundome.

Johnathan Stove scored 14 points off the bench for Louisiana (23-4, 13-1 SBC), which increased its lead over second-place Georgia State in the Sun Belt Conference standings to three games with four games remaining. The win by Louisiana improved its home record to 13-0 on the season marking the third time in school history to reach the mark and first time since 1977-78.

JaKeenan Gant and Cedric Russell scored 12 points each for the Ragin’ Cajuns, who buried 14 3-pointers against UTA (16-12, 7-8 SBC) to finish one off the single-game school record last set against Troy on Jan. 10, 2009. Justin Miller added 10 points for the Ragin’ Cajuns while Bryce Washington pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds while tying a career-high with six assists.

Louisiana, which won its 16th consecutive game at home dating back to last season, opened the game with three straight 3-pointers as Bartley hit a pair and Marcus Stroman drained his only attempt from behind the arc. The Ragin’ Cajuns pushed their lead to 16-6 on a jumper by Malik Marquetti with 15:48 remaining in the first half before the Mavs fought back, cutting the lead to 19-16 on a free throw by Kevin Hervey at the 12:23 mark.

After Hervery connected on a bucket that closed the gap to 22-18, Louisiana scored the next five points as Bartley scored on a layup and Miller sank a 3-pointer with 10:25 left.

Russell, who finished 4-for-6 from behind the 3-point line, gave Louisiana a 40-29 lead with 5:02 left in the half before his 3-pointer at the 3:10 mark capped a 10-2 run for the Ragin’ Cajuns and increased their lead to 47-31.

Bartley gave Louisiana a 53-33 lead with 19:11 remaining in the game when he converted a three-point play and the Ragin’ Cajuns would take their biggest lead of the night – 75-46 – on a Stove 3-pointer with 11:53 remaining.

Louisiana finished 33-for-66 overall (50.0 percent) from the floor while converting on 20 of 21 free throws. Gant and Washington each blocked three shots for Louisiana while the Ragin’ Cajuns held UTA to 24-for-63 aim (38.1 percent) from the floor and 24-for-33 from the free throw line.

Erick Neal scored a game-high 26 points to lead UTA with Hervey adding 21. Johnny Hamilton added 12 points for UTA, which dropped its second straight game.

Louisiana will return to action on Thursday when it visits Troy in a 7:15 p.m. contest at Trojan Arena.