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University of North Texas
Louisiana-Lafayette
White, Thompson Comeback Not Enough At ULL
1/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
LAFAYETTE, La. - Johnny Jones & Co. are usually a sure thing against teams from the Pelican state. But on Thursday night at the Cajundome the North Texas basketball team ran into a hot-shooting Louisiana-Lafayette squad it couldn't get past, falling 93-86.
The Mean Green (16-5, 5-3 Sun Belt) was 25-7 against Louisiana schools over the last five years and had won eight of its last 10 games against the Ragin' Cajuns (6-14, 3-5 Sun Belt) but only led briefly in the first minute against a ULL team that hit 50 percent from the floor.
Baton Rouge native Josh White became the first player in North Texas history to record 1,500 points and 300 assists for his career. White, along with fellow senior Tristan Thompson, led the Mean Green comeback attempt in the second half.
White led five NT players in double-figures with 21, and Thompson wasn't far behind with 20. Jacob Holmen scored his first double-double with 15 points and 10 boards.
Thompson cut a 14-point Ragin' Cajun lead to four points with 6:43 remaining with a contested 3-pointer from the right wing. Dominique Johnson cut it to three with 34 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws, but that's as close as NT would come.
The Cajuns always seemed to have the answer from deep all night. The Ragin' Cajuns were 7-of-19 from deep, including a pair each from Randell Daigle, La'Ryan Gary and Raymone Andrews. Travis Bureau led seven ULL players in double-figures with 15 points and 10 rebounds.
The Ragin' Cajuns opened up a 10 point lead late in the first half, but a Mean Green 3-point barrage vaulted NT back into the game. Holmen hit back-to-back 3-pointers and White added another to bring NT to within three with 2:40 left in the half.
Over the last three games, Johnson had connected on eight straight 3-pointers before having a chance to repeat the magic buzzer beater from last Saturday night. With 4.0 seconds on the clock, the senior took the full court inbounds pass, but his 3-pointer clanged out to send ULL into the break up, 38-35.
Randell Daigle scored his 1,000th career point for the Ragin' Cajuns in the first half, and proved a tough opponent for NT. Daigle went into the half with 12 points and finished with 13.
NT will continue its road trip at Denver on Saturday. Tip off from Magness Arena is slated for 5 p.m. CST.
