The Creighton Bluejays, the West Region’s #3 seed in the 2014 NCAA Tournament, open tournament play Friday afternoon against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns.
The Bluejays hosted Louisiana four seasons ago, Doug McDermott’s freshman year, beating the Cajuns in a bit of a squeaker where the offense was low but the defense helped them win the game. This year’s matchup most likely will be different: both the Bluejays and the Cajuns boast offenses that like to get up and down the court.
To help us get a better feel for how Louisiana (Lafayette–yes they don’t use that anymore) has changed since the last time Bluejay fans saw them, we reached out to the Basketball Times Mid Major Columnist, Blue Ribbon Yearbook, Louisiana Scout, and College Chalktalk contributor Joshua Parrott. He also covered the Ragin’ Cajuns and the Sun Belt Conference for The Daily Advertiser from 2007-2011 before moving to Houston. He gives us a great run down on the Ragin’ Cajuns.
White & Blue Review: How big of a deal is it that the Ragin’ Cajuns made it to the NCAA Tournament?
Joshua Parrott: It’s huge. The Cajuns have a strong basketball tradition with 10 NCAA tournament appearances and top-10 national rankings in 1972 and 1973, but they last made the Big Dance in 2005. Fourth-year coach Bob Marlin had some work to do when he took over after going 225-131 at Sam Houston State from 1998 to 2010 with two NCAA tournament trips (2003 & ‘10).
His first team started slowly before putting together an 11-game winning streak late in the season to win the Sun Belt’s West Division title and finish 14-15. In Year Two, the Cajuns went 16-16 and played in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, but he lost four seniors from that team plus five transfers. The Cajuns fell to 13-20 last year with a new-look roster before bouncing back this season for the program’s most wins since 2000.
WBR: Other than the players themselves, what has changed with the Louisiana program in the four years since playing Creighton back in 2010? Has the style of play or any of the coaches changed at all?
JP: Marlin lost an assistant coach/recruiting coordinator each of the past two years, but the biggest change has been having players who have bought into his system. His first team had five seniors accustomed to the previous coach and a sophomore point guard who was suspended multiple times before transferring after his junior season in 2011-12. He now has veteran guards who make the right decisions in the open court and his half-court Princeton-style sets. They’re quick with experienced guards, average nearly 82 points per game and can get hot from 3-point range and rebound. It also helps having game-changers like junior guard Elfrid Payton and sophomore forward Shawn Long and a veteran supporting cast (senior guard Bryant Mbamalu, senior forward Elridge Moore, junior guard Xavian Rimmer).
WBR: What will the Ragin’ Cajuns do to try and stop Doug McDermott from taking over the game?
JP: Several things could happen, but I expect the Cajuns to switch up defensively between man-to-man and zone to keep Creighton off-balance. Marlin knows Providence used a 2-3 zone against the Bluejays in the Big East tournament. It seemed to work out as McDermott got his points, but the rest of the team was cold from the outside. Marlin implemented a triangle-and-two while at Sam Houston State a few days before playing Baylor in the 2010 NCAA tournament to slow down guards LaceDarius Dunn and Tweety Carter and the Bearkats nearly upset the Elite Eight-bound Bears.
I think you’ll see Elfrid Payton (a 6-3, 190-pound guard with a 6-7 wingspan and the Sun Belt defensive player of the year) and 6-5 senior forward Elridge Moore defend McDermott the most whenever the Cajuns are not in a zone. First-team all-conference forward Shawn Long has battled foul problems for most of the season, so I don’t see the 6-9, 245-pound sophomore spending any significant time on him. Reserve forward J.J. Davenport is a big body (6-6, 325) who can step out and make perimeter shots but lacks the laterally quickness to stay in front of McDermott.
WBR: Which players to Creighton fans need to keep their eye on during the game that will make a big impact?
JP: Already mentioned Payton, Long, Mbamalu, Rimmer and Moore. The first four guys are the top offensive weapons. Payton (19.1 ppg, 6 apg, 5.9 rpg, 2.3 spg) loves to attack the rim and play pressure defense. He has struggled at the free throw line (.611) and still lacks consistency on his 3-point shot (.260) but has a strong mid-range game and has been almost impossible to keep out of the paint. Last summer he started for the U.S. Under-19 team that won gold in the FIBA World Championships.
Long has averaged a double-double each of the past two years, including 18.7 ppg, 10.5 rpg and 2.7 bpg this season. He ranks in the top 10 nationally in double-doubles (18) and rebounding and had big games this season against Louisiana Tech (17 pts, 12 rbs), Louisville (25 pts) and Houston (22 pts, 12 rbs).
Mbamalu (12.5 ppg) was MVP of the Sun Belt tournament after missing the season’s first 12 games with a broken foot.
Rimmer (8.9 ppg, .438 3PT) has had several big games this season – he had a career-high 27 points and seven 3s in the league tournament final against Georgia State – and is the team’s top 3-point shooter after previously playing at Alcorn State and Pearl River Community College.
Moore (4.1 ppg, 3.8 rpg) doesn’t have big individual numbers, but he’s a versatile defender and a glue guy. The Cajuns went 3-2 when Moore was out hurt this season with unexpected losses to Jackson State and league foe ULM, so his value goes beyond stats.
WBR: Who do you consider as the most well-known player to come out of Louisiana?
JP: For some it is 6-1 guard Bo Lamar, who put up incredible numbers for the Cajuns from 1969 to 1972. Lamar scored 3,493 points (31.2 ppg), was a three-time All-American and led the program to a 90-23 record in his four seasons before playing in the ABA and NBA. (Lamar is fourth on the NCAA career scoring list for all divisions; McDermott is 15th.)
Others might say guard Andrew Toney, who helped revive the program after a two-year death penalty from the NCAA. Toney averaged 23.6 ppg and won 77 games for the Cajuns from 1976 to 1980 before becoming a first-round draft pick of the 76ers. He played his entire injury-shortened pro career in Philadelphia (1980 to 1988) and averaged 15.9 ppg, was a two-time all-star and won an NBA title in 1983.
WBR: How well will the fans travel to San Antonio? Are the locals pretty excited?
JP: Look for the Cajuns to bring a strong crowd given that the Creighton game is on a Friday and San Antonio is about a six-hour drive from Lafayette. Outside of Lafayette, Houston has the largest number of the school’s alumni (at last count approximately 5,500), and it would be only a three-hour trip for those travelers. The success in men’s basketball adds to what’s an exciting time for those who are fans of the Ragin’ Cajuns. The football team has won three straight bowl games. A young women’s basketball team just had its best season since 2007. The baseball team is ranked fifth in the country. The softball team is in the top 25. So yes, the locals are pretty excited about the Cajuns right now.
WBR: What is the deal with just Louisiana instead of Louisiana-Lafayette? Has this branding helped with anything special?
JP: Long before I worked in Lafayette the school wanted to be known for athletic purposes as “Louisiana.” One of the reasons the school changed its name the University of Southwestern Louisiana to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in 1999 was to get away from the double-directional name for academic and research purposes. Removing Lafayette for athletics also would keep the Cajuns from being confused with Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. (It still happens today as ESPN.com had a video this week about the Cajuns going to the NCAA Tournament, but it used the logo/graphic from Lafayette College.) ESPN and CBS used Louisiana for the 2000 NCAA tournament, but both later went with Louisiana-Lafayette.
The use of Louisiana has started to pick up steam recently with the football team going 9-4 and winning the New Orleans Bowl in each of the past three years. CBS also used Louisiana during last weekend’s Selection Show. As someone with no Louisiana ties, I’ve never understood why there’s been so much resistance to call the school “Louisiana” for athletics. It’s unfortunate because there’s obvious hypocrisy as two schools in Baton Rouge are called something for athletics different from their official school names (LSU/Louisiana State University and A&M College and Southern/Southern University and A&M College) by in-state and national outlets. I long for the day when this is no longer an issue.
WBR: What is your final prediction? What will Louisiana have to do to knock off the Bluejays?
JP: The Cajuns have had a great run recently, winning 11 of their past 13 games mostly because of improved defensive play. But a lot of things have to go right for them to beat Creighton. I believe the main focus will be to play solid defense against McDermott as he’s crafty enough to get his points from mid-range and inside as well as the free throw line even if his outside shot is off. They don’t want his teammates to get open shots and easy points. To win, the Cajuns would have to hope Creighton struggles from the perimeter and they’d need big games from Payton, Long and at least one more scorer. The Cajuns have to control tempo, minimize turnovers while capitalizing on Creighton’s mistakes and convert at the free throw line. Some of the pieces are there for the Cajuns to pull the upset (potent tandem of Payton and Long, experienced guards, quality Xs and Os coach in Marlin, team is hot), but Creighton and McDermott are going to present a major challenge.