Milwaukee nips Cajuns

The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and led by as much as six in the second half, but Milwaukee scored six of the game’s final seven points and pulled out a 56-52 win Monday in the opener of the MGM Grand Main Event at the MGM Grand.
Louisiana (1-3) shot 42.9 percent from the field in the second half after a sluggish opening period against the Panthers (2-3) in the first-ever meeting between the teams.
“We talked in the locker room at halftime and told them that we needed to pick up the intensity,” Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin said in a news release. “I’m proud of the way we came back, even taking the lead in the second half, but we let it slip. We controlled the game but didn’t make enough shots and made too many turnovers at the wrong time.”
The Cajuns scored just 14 points in the opening period but went on a 19-5 run in the second half to go up six points at 44-38. Still, the Panthers held the lead at 49-47 with less than four minutes to play after a 9-2 run before the Cajuns responded again and took the lead on a layup from Bryce Washington with less than 90 seconds to go.
But Louisiana committed two of their season-low 16 turnovers in the final minute, the second being a steal by Steve McWhorter who found Matt Tiby for the go-ahead layup with just 43 seconds on the clock.
Milwaukee added a pair of foul shots from Justin Jordan later, and the Cajuns missed on a pair of scoring chances in the game’s final 30 seconds to allow the Panthers to finish it off.
Xavian Rimmer and Brian Williams led UL in scoring with a dozen points apiece, while Williams pulled in a team-high six rebounds and had a pair of steals. Devonta Walker finished with 10 points and six rebounds as well, while Washington made his first career start and turned in seven points, five rebounds, three steals and a block.
McWhorter led all scorers, picking up a double-double by totaling 18 points and 10 rebounds, scoring seven of his points in the second half.
The Cajuns forced a season-high 22 turnovers by the Panthers, turning them into 23 points, and held the edge in both points in the paint (26-16) and transition points (8-2); however, the Panthers held the edge on the glass (38-27) and hit 20 of 25 free throws, including 16 of 19 in the second half.
The Cajuns struggled offensively in the opening half, hitting just six of their 26 shots (23.1 percent) in trailing 24-14 at the break.
A bucket from Rimmer and Washington’s first three-pointer of the season staked UL to a quick 5-0 lead, but the Panthers got seven points from McWhorter in a 15-2 Milwaukee run that followed.
Williams entered off the bench and provided three points to pull the Cajuns within five at 15-10 with just more than eight minutes to the break, but the Panthers again responded with three straight buckets to push the lead into double figures for the first time before holding the Cajuns without a field goal for the final 4:09 of the half.
Next, Louisiana will take on Oral Roberts today in its final game of the MGM Grand Main Event. Tip time against the Golden Eagles is set for 8 p.m.