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| Louisiana-Lafayette (9-10) vs. UALR (8-11) 7 p.m. Thursday Jack Stephens Center |
BURN THE HORSE
Louisiana-Lafayette (9-10, 3-2) travels to UALR (8-11, 5-0) for a Sun Belt Conference game at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Injuries to point guard Raymone Andrews and inside-outside presence J.J. Thomas have slowed the Ragin’ Cajuns early this season. But they’re getting closer to healthy and that might not be a good thing for Sun Belt foes.
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| J.J. Thomas |
ULL has been starting the 6-2 Andrews at point guard. He averages 6.6 points and has 50 assists and only 27 turnovers. He’s one of only two Cajuns with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio this season. Andrews had to leave Saturday's game with a hip/back injury. But he's expected to play at UALR
For the most part the Cajun guards are slashers. They only attempt 16 three-pointers per game, making 35.6 percent as a team. They also went to the free throw line 53 times in last week’s victory over FIU.
Senior guard Josh Brown is a 6-4 wing averaging 10.4 points and 6.2 rebounds. He shoots 41 percent from three-point range and had 23 points last week against FIU. The other guard is Bryant Mbamalu, a 6-2 sophomore averaging 5.6 points.
Up front the Cajuns are big. Darshawn McClellan is a 6-7 senior averaging 9.8 points and 5.6 rebounds. He shoots 41 percent from three-point range and had 28 points vs. FIU. He made 4 of 6 three-pointers in that game but had missed his previous six attempts behind the arc.
And the post is 6-9 sophomore Kadeem Coleby, who averages 10.2 points and 4.6 rebounds. He has 43 blocked shots on the season.
Coach Bob Marlin has 11 players averaging more than nine minutes per game.
The Cajuns are 10-7 in road games, winning only at Western Kentucky.
