Long leads ULL to 97-64 win over McNeese State

LAFAYETTE — Shawn Long scored a game-high 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette defeated McNeese State 97-64 Wednesday night.
Long, a Morgan City native, has 56 double-doubles and 1,103 rebounds. The senior forward is the Division I active leader in both categories.
He moved into sole possession of 13th place in Sun Belt Conference history in scoring (1,819), blocked three shots to tie former Western Kentucky player Jeremy Evans for fifth on the league’s all-time list with 224.
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored 19 straight points to take a 24-point lead in the first half, which ended with ULL leading 52-31. A 12-0 run made it a 40-point lead with 3:29 remaining in the game.
Jay Hedgeman added 13 points for the Ragin’ Cajuns (3-3), who came in ranked fourth nationally at 90.8 points per game. ULL narrowly missed its third 100-point game.
A.J. Brown led the Cowboys with 11 points while Shaun Johnson and Stephen Ugochukwu each scored nine.
The Cowboys’ Ugochukwu had nine rebounds while Johnson added six.
McNeese State had 20 turnovers that ULL turned into 34 points. The Ragin’ Cajuns outscored McNeese 56-30 in the paint.
The loss dropped the Cowboys to 1-6 on the season. They’ll next play at Indiana at 5:30 p.m. Saturday in a game that will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
The score tied the second-largest margin of victory in the series between the Interstate-10 rivals. Louisiana leads 56-35.
Louisiana finished 38-for-74 (51.4 percent) from the field, including a season-high tying 19-for-31 performance (61.3 percent) from the floor in the first half. The Ragin’ Cajuns made 14 of 17 free throws while holding a 46-40 advantage on the boards.
ULL will open a three-game road trip beginning Saturday when it travels to Ruston to face Louisiana Tech in a noon contest at the Thomas Assembly Center. The game will be televised nationally on the American Sports Network and regionally on Cox Sports Television.
After facing Louisiana Tech, the Ragin’ Cajuns will travel to the West Coast to face UCLA on Tuesday at historic Pauley Pavilion before concluding their trip with a date at Pepperdine on Dec. 18.