Louisiana: 2022-23 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Champions

PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Themus Fulks scored a career-high 23 points, Jordan Brown had 13 points and 16 rebounds and second-seeded Louisiana beat No. 8 seed South Alabama 71-66 on Monday night to claim the Sun Belt Conference tournament championship.

Louisiana (26-7) secured its 11th NCAA tournament berth and first since 2014.

Louisiana's first lead of two points or more came with 12:06 remaining in the second half on a putback by Terence Lewis II for a 49-46 advantage.

After South Alabama went 1 of 2 from the free throw line, Jalen Dalcourt made a jumper in the lane with 27.7 seconds left to extend Louisiana's lead to 67-64. The Jaguars struggled all game from the stripe, going 17 of 28.

Isaiah Moore made two free throws with 17.1 seconds left to get South Alabama within 67-66, but Lewis answered with two makes at the other end to regain a three-point advantage. South Alabama guard Owen White had a long 3-pointer rattle out in the closing seconds, and Kentrell Garnett sealed it with two free throws at 1.4.

Dalcourt finished with 13 points and Lewis added 12 points for the Ragin' Cajuns. Dalcourt and Fulks each made three of Louisiana's eight 3-pointers.

South Alabama (19-16), which knocked off No. 1 seed Southern Miss 78-61 on Saturday, was going for its first NCAA tournament berth since 2008.

Moore scored a career-high 33 points for South Alabama. Kevin Samuel had two blocks in the first half to set a South Alabama single-season record with 86. Samuel also scored 12 points and grabbed six rebounds.

Moore, averaging 18.5 points per game, scored 13 of South Alabama's opening 20 points to help build a six-point lead. The Jaguars led 37-33 at halftime behind 63% shooting and Moore's 16 points.

Louisiana: 2021 New Orleans Bowl Champions

NEW ORLEANS -- — Levi Lewis passed for 270 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another 74 yards, and No. 16 Louisiana-Lafayette defeated Marshall 36-21 in the New Orleans Bowl on Saturday night to end its season on a program-record 13-game winning streak.

The Ragin' Cajuns (13-1), who had to rally from behind twice in the game, took the lead for good on Emani Bailey's first of two TD runs he had in the final 8:20.

Lewis' 54-yard pass to Michael Jefferson set up Montrell Johnson's 3-yard TD run to widen the lead with 3:54 to go and Bailey scored again late for the final margin in the first game for Michael Desormeaux as Cajuns head coach. He took over after the ULL won the Sun Belt Championship game under Billy Napier, who left after that to become the Florida Gators' head coach.

Rasheen Ali rushed for 160 yards and three touchdowns for Marshall (7-6). His final touchdown on a 9-yard run put Marshall in front 21-16 late in the third quarter.

Lewis finished 19 of 31 passing without a turnover. He had three completions of 42 or more yards and also had a 55-yard run. Bailey finished with 94 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries.

Marshall QB Grant Wells was 15 of 26 for 99 yards and was intercepted once by Bralen Trahan.

Early on, Louisiana-Lafayette looked poised to take control, driving 81 yards for a touchdown on the game's first series. Lewis' 9-yard scoring pass to Kyren Lacy made it 7-0.

The Cajuns led 10-0 after Nate Snyder's 42-yard field goal.

But Marshall found its footing when Ali burst up the middle for a 63-yard score.

Two series later, the Herd drove 58 yards in three plays, highlighted by Ali's 32-yard run to start the drive and his 14-yard score two plays later to put Marshall in front 14-10 in the second quarter.

Lewis gained 55 yards on a read-option keeper to set up Snyder's 25-yard field goal to cut it to 14-13.

Trahan's interception and 26-yard return to the Marshall 44 set up Snyder's third field goal of the half to put the Cajuns back in front 16-14. ULL parlayed that turnover into points after Lewis' deep heave on a rollout was caught by Jacob Bernard on the Marshall 4.

THE TAKEAWAY

Marshall: The Thundering Herd collapsed after taking a five-point lead into the fourth quarter. Marshall gave itself a chance by frustrating Lewis on several drives and sacking him twice. But Marshall's offense netted just 15 yards and no points in the fourth quarter.

Louisiana-Lafayette: The Desormeaux era is off to a strong start. Bailey, Lewis and Johnson, who rushed for 54 yards, combined for 222 yards on the ground. Lewis finished his career at QB with a performance that earned him bowl MVP honors and the defense completely shut down the Herd in the pivotal fourth quarter. Lewis finished with 9.191 career yards passing, just short of Jake Delhomme's ULL career record of 9,216 yards passing.

POLL IMPLICATIONS

Louisiana-Lafayette's highest ever ranking was No. 15 at the end of last season. The Cajuns could finish even higher this year.

UP NEXT

Marshall: The Thundering Herd will have Wells and Ali back to help lead the offense when Marshall begins its 2022 season on Sept. 3 at home against Norfolk State.

Louisiana-Lafayette: Must find a successor at QB to Lewis, the Cajuns' all-time leader in touchdowns passing with 74, as they prepare to begin the Desormeaux era in earnest when they open the 2022 season on Sept. 3 at home against Southeastern Louisiana.

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Louisiana-Lafayette: 2020 First Responder Bowl Champions

(UL ATHLETICS PRESS RELEASE) – For the second consecutive season, Louisiana Football emerged victorious in its bowl game after it defeated UTSA, 31-24, to claim the 2020 SERVPRO First Responder Bowl title on Saturday afternoon at Gerald J. Ford Stadium.

 

Powered by a stellar performance from the game’s Most Valuable Player, Elijah Mitchell, the No. 19-ranked Ragin’ Cajuns (10-1, 7-1 Sun Belt) locked up their second-straight 10-win season.

 

Mitchell racked up 127 rushing yards on 19 carries and added a touchdown as part of his MVP performance. The yardage total set the program record for the most rushing yards in a bowl game and was the fourth-most rushing yards in the bowl’s history.

 

Fellow running back Trey Ragas was also impressive in the win with 98 rushing yards on 14 attempts and his 10th rushing score of the year.

 

Through the air, quarterback Levi Lewis finished the game with 146 yards and threw two touchdown passes to Jalen Williams and Kyren Lacy. Lewis now sits at third in program history for career passing yards, while Lacy led all Louisiana receivers with four catches for 38 yards.

 

Defensively, Lorenzo McCaskill tied the program record for the most tackles in a bowl game with 11 against the Roadrunners, his fourth double-digit tackle performance of the season. Ferrod Gardner had another huge day, recording eight tackles, 1.0 sack and a fumble recovery.

 

Safety Percy Butler notched the team’s other turnover with an interception early in the game, the team’s 16th of the season. With the pick, the team matched its 2009 total of 16 picks.

 

Louisiana opened the scoring on Saturday when Lewis found Williams for the 15-yard score to cap off an eight-play, 68-yard drive on its opening possession. After Kenneth Almendares added a field goal, UTSA answered when Frank Harris scored from 11 yards out with 4:33 remaining in the half.

 

Lewis led the Ragin’ Cajuns down the field right before the break, slinging a pass to Lacy in the back of the end zone to put Louisiana up 17-7 at halftime.

 

It was a dream start to the second half when Gardner scooped up a UTSA fumble, setting up the offense on the Roadrunner three yard line. Mitchell answered on the first play, pounding his way into the end zone from three yards out to extend the lead to 24-7.

 

UTSA took advantage of turnover and a costly Louisiana penalty on back-to-back drives, scoring two passing touchdowns to pull within 24-21 with 4:09 to play in the third quarter.

 

After the Roadrunners tied things up with a 20-yard field goal, the Ragin’ Cajuns put together a 12-play, 72-yard drive that was capped off by a powerful one-yard touchdown run by Ragas to push Louisiana back in front 31-24.

 

Louisiana’s defense came up big at the end of the contest, making a critical stop on fourth down to turn the ball back over to the offense, which successfully milked the clock to secure the SERVPRO First Responder Bowl title.

Louisiana: 2020 Lendingtree Bowl Champions

It has been a pretty good bowl season for schools form the state of Louisiana. Louisiana (11-3) knocked off Miami Ohio (8-6) in the 2020 Lendingtree Bowl Monday night, 27-17, for the program’s first bowl victory since 2014. It also improved schools from the state of Louisiana to a clean 4-0 in bowl games this bowl season.

Louisiana quarterback Levi Lewis passed for 246 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for a team-high 58 yards in the win. The Ragin’ Cajuns defense clamped down on Miami after halftime to help Louisiana reach the fourth quarter with a 24-10 lead. Miami had a chance to create a one-possession game in the fourth quarter, but the RedHawks imploded with a bad snap shortly after a 63-yard pass from Brett Gabbert to James Maye brought up a 1st & Goal from the Louisiana two-yard line.

Louisiana head coach Billy Napier, who just dismissed the idea he would leave the program to take the vacant job at Mississippi State, now owns his first bowl victory with Louisiana. Napier lost his bowl debut last season in the Cure Bowl, dropping the team to 7-7 on the season. The 11 wins this season is the most by Louisiana in a single season in program history.

Louisiana is the fourth school form the state to play in and win a bowl game this season. Prior to Louisiana’s win Monday night, Louisiana Tech defeated the Miami Hurricanes, Tulane defeated Southern Mississippi, and LSU scored a blowout victory over Oklahoma in the Peach Bowl (College Football Playoff semifinal). LSU will have a chance to put the cherry on top of a perfect 5-0 bowl season for the state next Monday when they face the Clemson Tigers in the College Football Playoff national championship game in, appropriately enough, New Orleans.

Louisiana’s 2020 season opens up on Saturday, Sept. 5 with a home game against McNeese State. Miami will begin the next season on the same day with a road game at Pittsburgh.

Louisiana-Lafayette: 2014 New Orleans Bowl Champions

University of Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth said Terrance Broadway's final game as a Ragin' Cajun was a fitting end for his senior quarterback. Playing for the final time at UL-Lafayette, Broadway passed for 227 yards and a touchdown to lead the Cajuns to a 16-3 victory against Nevada on Saturday in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

He was named the game's most outstanding player. He also earned that honor in 2012 when he led UL-Lafayette to a 43-34 victory against East Carolina.

It was, at times, a frustrating season for Broadway and the Cajuns. They started 1-3 and Broadway lost his favorite receiver, senior Jamal Robinson, to a knee and foot injury.

That meant establishing rapport with his other receivers, something that took time.

He hooked up with receiver James Butler eight times for 53 yards Saturday.

"The connection with me and James really picked up,'' Broadway said. "We've been on the same page throughout the year. James has really stepped up big for us.

"It's been team all year. All I want to do is be consistent. If I pass the ball seven times, I want to be 7-for-7. That's just how our offense rolls. Anybody on our offense could have been MVP (Saturday).''

Broadway completed his first 14 passes of the game. He directed the Cajuns to scoring drives on the first two possessions. He guided UL-Lafayette on a 77-yard, eight-play touchdown offensive to start the game, completing two passes for 29 yards, including a 17-yard touchdown strike to C.J. Bates that came on third down.

He also had a 15-yard run on the drive as the Cajuns moved efficiently, needing only one third down conversion, which came on the score with 11:26 left in the first quarter.

UL-Lafayette made it 10-0 with 2:55 left in the second quarter when senior kicker Hunter Stover hit a career-high 46-yard field goal. The Cajuns moved from their 11 to the Nevada 29 before the drive stalled. Broadway completed four passes on that drive for 27 yards and rushed for 10 yards.

"Terrance was spot on (Saturday),'' Hudspeth said. "Great way for him to go out.''

McGUIRE CONTRIBUTES: Nevada did a fair job of handling Cajuns' running back Elijah McGuire, the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year, for most of the game.

He just missed getting 100 yards rushing, finishing with 99 yards on 16 carries. He also had five receptions for 54 yards.

Wolf Pack coach Brian Polian said the plan was to limit UL-Lafayette's running game.

"We came into the game saying we had to stop the run,'' Polian said. "It's hard to look at the numbers and say we got blown up.''

FOURTH BEST CROWD: Though it wasn't the record crowd the New Orleans Bowl has enjoyed the previous three years, Ragin' Cajuns fans still had a respectable showing.

The announced crowd was 34,014, the fourth largest in the New Orleans Bowl history. The actual crowd was considerably smaller. But considering the early 10 a.m. start and fact that UL-Lafayette had been here the previous three years, it wasn't a bad showing.

ECT.: UL-Lafayette had 26 first downs, third most in New Orleans Bowl history, and held the ball for 36:54 to Nevada's 23:06, the best mark in bowl history. ... Cajuns senior kicker Hunter Stover made field goals of 46, 38 and 35 yards, tying the New Orleans Bowl record for most in a game. He missed his fourth attempt in the fourth quarter. ... The three points by Nevada was the fewest ever in New Orleans Bowl history.

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Trey Iles can be reached at riles@nola.com or 504.826.3405. 

Louisiana-Lafayette: 2013-14 Sun Belt Men's Basketball Champions

NEW ORLEANS -- Xavian Rimmer scored a career-high 27 points, Louisiana-Lafayette rallied from a 9-point deficit in the last three minutes of regulation to force overtime and the Ragin' Cajuns beat Georgia State 82-81 in the Sun Belt Conference championship game Sunday.

The third-seeded Ragin' Cajuns (23-11) earned an automatic bid to their first NCAA tournament since 2005.

Ryan Harrow scored a career-high 37 points for Georgia State but missed an off-balance, driving bank shot in the final seconds. The top-seeded Panthers (25-7) had won 22 of their last 23 games.

After tying the score on a putback with 1.4 seconds left in regulation, Lafayette, which grabbed 20 offensive rebounds, took the lead for good, 80-77, with a 6-0 run in overtime that Elfrid Payton capped off with a layup off a Georgia State turnover.

Rimmer hit seven 3-pointers to keep UL-Lafayette within range until its final comeback.

Louisiana-Lafayette: 2013 New Orleans Bowl Champions

It was as cruel a way for Tulane's season to end as possible. Green Wave kicker Cairo Santos missed a 48-yard field goal attempt with nine seconds left that gave the University of Louisiana-Lafayette a 24-21 victory in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Saturday night before a record crowd of 54,728 in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.

It was UL Lafayette's (9-4) third straight victory in the New Orleans Bowl. And it prevented an impressive rally for victory by Tulane (7-6), which came back from a 21-0 second-quarter deficit.

Led by quarterback Devin Powell, the Wave drove from its 5 to the UL Lafayette 31 to set up Santos' attempt, which went wide left. It was a difficult way for Santos' career to end. He was the Lou Groza Award winner in 2012.

Tulane trailed 24-21 in the fourth quarter and drove from its 25 to the UL Lafayette 39. Facing fourth-and-10 at that point with less than eight minutes to play, Wave coach Curtis Johnson elected to punt instead of sending in Santos for a 56-yard field goal try.

UL Lafayette took over at its 9 then, led by redshirt freshman quarterback Jalen Nixon, and drove to the Tulane 49 before it was forced to punt with but 1:42 left.

Cajuns punter Daniel Cadona hit a beauty that put Tulane at its 5 with 1:35 to play.

The Cajuns took a 24-21 lead with 9:56 left in the fourth quarter thanks to a Powell interception.

Pinned at the Tulane 3 after a UL Lafayette punt, Powell dropped to pass. But he was hurried and threw up a poor pass with a lot of air under it that was picked off by Cajuns safety Sean Thomas at the Wave 25. UL Lafayette took over at the Tulane 13 but could do nothing with it, as the Wave defense held.

That brought on UL Lafayette kicker Hunter Stover, who booted a 27-yard field goal, the first attempt of his collegiate career, that gave the Cajuns a 24-21 lead with 9:56 to play.

The Wave rallied from a 21-0 first half deficit and tied the game thanks its defense in the third quarter.

Facing third-and-6 at the UL Lafayette 33, Cajuns quarterback Terrance Broadway was chased from the pocket and looked to throw it away. But his pass went into the waiting arms of Wave cornerback Derrick Strozier at the Cajuns’ 37. Strozier returned the ball to the UL Lafayette 17.

After a procedure call by Tulane pushed it back to the Cajuns’ 22, Wave running back Orleans Darkwa ran 22 yards to tie the score, 21-21, with 2:34 left in the third quarter.

The Cajuns looked to make it a blowout in the first half as they jumped to a 21-0 lead. UL Lafayette scored touchdowns on two of their first three drives and led 14-0 with 2:10 left in the first quarter.

UL Lafayette drove 65 and 73 yards, pounding the Wave up front with an impressive running game. Freshman running back Elijah McGuire ran 27 yards for the first score with 10:57 left on the Cajuns’ first offensive of the night to give them a 7-0 lead.

Running back Alonzo Harris made it 14-0 with a 15-yard run with 2:10 left in the second quarter as UL Lafayette had 143 yards at the end of the first 15 minutes.

Tulane picked itself up, though, driving from its 40 to the Cajuns’ 18 on the ensuing possession. That’s when UL Lafayette delivered what looked to be a kill shot. Cajuns’ cornerback Corey Trim picked off a pass by Green Wave quarterback Nick Montana and returned it 82 yards for a touchdown.

Trim jumped the sideline-route pass then went the distance to give UL Lafayette a 21-0 lead with 12:31 left in the first half.

But Powell came on after that and engineered a pair of touchdown drives to cut the Cajuns’ lead to 21-14 at the half.

Tulane drove 71 yards in nine plays for their first score of the night, a 1-yard run by Orleans Darkwa with 3:55 left in the second quarter.

But it was a fourth down gamble that breathed life into the Wave. Facing fourth-and-2 at the Tulane 48, Johnson elected to go for it and Powell delivered. He completed a 41-yard pass to Devon Breaux to the UL Lafayette 11. Two plays later, Darkwa scored.

The Wave defense helped set up the next score when cornerback Jordan Sullen picked off a pass by Broadway at the Tulane 35.

On the first play after the interception, Powell again came through with a 49-yard pass to Ryan Grant to the UL Lafayette 16. Darkwa capped the drive with a 7-yard run to cut the Cajuns’ lead to 21-14 with 1:58 left in the first half.

Powell finished the first half completing four of six passes for 109 yards. In fact, Tulane outgained the Cajuns on offense 243-185 in the first half.

Broadway was five of seven passing for 57 yards and rushed for 38 yards in the first half.

Louisiana-Lafayette: 2012 New Orleans Bowl Champions

Louisiana-Lafayette wins New Orleans Bowl | College football

Quarterback Terrance Broadway passed for 316 yards and ran for 108, leading Louisiana-Lafayette to a 43-34 victory over East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl.

By Seattle Times news services

NEW ORLEANS — Whether Terrance Broadway was throwing, running or throwing on the run, he gave East Carolina fits and justified Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth's decision to let his sophomore quarterback finish the season as his starter.

Broadway passed for 316 yards and ran for 108, helping Louisiana-Lafayette repeat as winner of the New Orleans Bowl. The Ragin' Cajuns beat East Carolina 43-34 Saturday.

The performance capped a season that opened with Broadway backing up senior Blaine Gautier, who broke a bone in his throwing hand in late September.

"Terrance comes in and just has a phenomenal season," said Hudspeth, describing the difficult decision not to give Gautier — the most valuable player in last year's 32-30 New Orleans Bowl victory over San Diego State — his job back when he was healthy again late in the season. "We really had hit our stride, and the best thing about Blaine is he understood."

Broadway had to sit out last season after transferring from Houston.

Alonzo Harris rushed for 120 yards, including touchdowns of 6 and 68 yards, for the Ragin' Cajuns (9-4).

Shane Carden passed for 278 yards and two TDs for East Carolina (8-5).