Ragin’ Cajuns threaten upset of Louisiana Tech, but lose seventh straight game

Until the UL Ragin’ Cajuns get a full contingent of players, they will have to settle for silver linings.

Kentrell Garnett was a good place to start and end in Sunday night’s 69-58 home loss to a hot Louisiana Tech team (8-2). Garnett was the only player in double-digits with 23 points for UL, shooting 9 of 15 from the field, including 5-of-8 on 3-pointers, with four rebounds.

“It was a good college basketball game between two rivals,” UL coach Bob Marlin said. “There were some positive things out there today. We’re going to continue to work on those. We’ll continue to work on the negatives.”

UL (1-8) took an 18-16 lead as Garnett knocked down his first five shots, four of which were 3-pointers. He only missed one field goal in the first half and went into halftime with 16 of UL’s 34 points.

“You know, he’s a 40-plus percent 3-point shooter,” Marlin said of Garnett. “Once he got a couple in tonight, he really felt it. We’ve missed him.”

Similar to its last game, a one-point loss to Nicholls State, the Cajuns went cold at the beginning of the second half. UL made 2 of its first 11 field goals in the second half, while the Bulldogs made 5 of 11 from the field to slowly built a lead.

“We did a good job in the first half, but we should’ve had the lead,” said Marlin, whose team led by as many as five (30-25) and was tied 34-34 at halftime. “We misplayed a couple of things. Offensively, we had nine field goals in the second half, and we didn’t guard the way we should have.”

There were 11 lead changes in the first half, which ended with the Cajuns struggling to find the mark with no field goals over the final four minutes.

Zeke Cook came off the bench early and hit two shots, which was a punch UL needed after Kyran Ratliff, who scored a career-high 25 points against Nicholls, picked up two quick fouls and was limited to one point in the first half.

A Cook free throw got UL within 59-51 with five minutes left. The Cajuns forced a turnover, and Kyndall Davis (seven points, seven rebounds) scored inside to cut it to six, but Tech answered and UL missed on its next possession.

Thomas, Cook and Davis each had seven points for the Cajuns, whose field goal percentage dropped from 46 to 36% after halftime.

Tech, which had four players in double-digits led by Daniel Batcho’s double-double of 19 points and 11 rebounds) outrebounded UL 36-22 with a 42-24 advantage on points in the paint. The Bulldogs committed eight turnovers to the Cajuns’ 20) and had a 14-8 edge in second-chance points.

“We should have more size on Wednesday when we’ll hopefully add a couple of players,” said Marlin, who has been without four players and expects to get Brandon Hardy and Jeremiah Evans back soon — possibly in time for Wednesday’s home game against Southeastern Louisiana.