ULL defeats South Alabama 92-82

Senior Kasey Shepherd scored a career-high with 27 points to lead six players in double figures, and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team overcame a blistering performance from the field by South Alabama for a wild 92-82 victory in a Sun Belt Conference contest Thursday at the Cajundome.
Hayward Register added 13 points for Louisiana (8-8, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference), which won its third straight game and was playing its first of a season-high five-game stretch at home. Bryce Washington added 12 points for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Shawn Long adding 11 and Johnathan Stove and Jay Wright scoring 10 apiece.
The Ragin’ Cajuns overcame a South Alabama (7-11, 2-5 SBC) squad that shot 58.5 percent from the floor — the best mark against Louisiana this season — and a contest that saw a total of nine technical fouls called, including a combined three just after the first-half buzzer.
“Crazy game,” Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin said in a news release. “We got off to a decent start, and then we didn’t guard those guys. They got hot for a while, but we settled in … in the second half, we were able to get the free throws and get the ball back. I knew Kasey would make his four free throws, and it got him going in the second half.”
South Alabama (7-11, 2-5 SBC), which was coming off an upset win against UT-Arlington and had won seven of the last 10 meetings with the Ragin’ Cajuns, went 17-for-25 (68 percent) from the floor and used a 17-7 run in the first half to take a 26-18 lead after a steal and dunk by John Brown with 7:23 left.
But then the Cajuns responded behind the shooting of Shepherd, who finished 7-for-10 with a career-best 6-for-8 performance from behind the 3-point line.
Jay Wright started a 14-5 run for the Ragin’ Cajuns with a pair of free throws before Shepherd hit the first of three straight 3-pointers that eventually would close the gap to 31-30.
Devonta Walker tied the game at 31 when he made the first of two free throws before two free throws by Jay Hedgeman gave the Cajuns a 33-31 lead at the 4:29 mark.
Barrington Stevens III answered with a 3-pointer for the Jaguars, who took a 34-33 lead, but Register would answer with a 3-pointer and Hedgeman would put the Cajuns up for good, 38-36, when he was fouled.
Hedgeman converted on his free throw, and Stove made one of two after a technical foul on Stevens that gave Louisiana a 40-36 lead. The Cajuns kept their six-point lead heading into the final minute of the first half.
South Alabama cut into the Ragin’ Cajuns lead in the final 22 seconds of the half as Ken Williams made a pair of free throws and added a layup just before the buzzer that cut the deficit to 46-44.
But Williams, Brown and the Ragin’ Cajuns bench each were assessed technical fouls as the teams were about to head to their respective locker rooms.
Williams opened the second half making one of two free throws that cut the lead to 46-45 before Shepherd, the league leader in free throw percentage, made four straight attempts to give Louisiana a 50-45 lead.
Stove followed with a baseline jumper, and Shepherd added a 3-pointer that closed out a 9-0 run and gave Louisiana a 55-45 lead with 18:53 left.
Shepherd buried another 3-pointer that gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a 58-46 advantage, and the lead eventually would get to 70-50 after Washington scored on a jumper in the lane.
Long, a Morgan City High alum who pushed his career scoring total to 1,998 points, hit a free throw with 4:51 remaining that gave Louisiana its biggest lead, 86-65.
A 3-pointer by Wright gave the Cajuns a 90-71 lead with 2:27 left.
“We pushed the lead up to double figures, and had a chance to really step on it and relax,” Marlin said of the Jaguars late 11-2 rally, “but we didn’t close the game off the way we needed to.”
Louisiana finished 24-for-54 (44.4 percent) from the floor and 10-for-23 (43.5 percent) from behind the free throw line.
The Ragin’ Cajuns set season-highs in both free throws made (34) and attempts (47) while holding a 34-27 advantage on the glass and forcing a season-high 21 turnovers.
South Alabama finished 31-for-53 (58.5 percent) from the floor, eclipsing the previous high (56.4 percent) set by Miami Nov. 16.
Williams led the Jaguars with 16 points, with Shaq Calhoun adding 13 points, Stevens, 12, and Nick Stover, 12.
Louisiana will return to action Saturday when it hosts Troy (6-12, 1-6 SBC) in a Sun Belt Conference game that will be televised on ESPN3. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.