A tough nine minute stretch in the first half proved to be Louisiana's undoing Monday night as Miami used a 22-6 run to take a comfortable lead and went on to beat the Cajuns 93-77, before 5,965 fans at the BankUnited Center.

Louisiana (1-1) trailed by only four, 19-15 after a Shawn Long layup with 12:12 remaining in the half before Miami (2-0) went on a 22-6 run to break open the game and lead by 20 points, 41-21 with 3:31 to go until halftime and took a 43-27 lead into the locker room.

The Cajuns shot only 41.7% in the first half, compared to 53.3% for the Hurricanes.  Miami also outrebounded the Cajuns 18-13 in the first 20 minutes.

But the Cajuns played the Hurricanes even in the second half as Louisiana flexed its muscle on the boards and hauled in 16 offensive rebounds after intermission and wound up outscoring Miami 21-6 on second chance points.

But outside shooting proved to be the Cajuns' downfall as they hit only 5-20 from beyond the arc, while the Hurricanes were 12-23.  The Cajuns didn't help themselves from the free throw line, hitting only 14-24 tries.

Miami placed six players in double figures, led by Davon Reed with 19, while Angel Rodriguez added 18.  Sheldon McClellan, who led the first half scoring for Miami with 12 points, finished with 16.  Ivan Cruz Uceda hit 3-5 from three point range and finished with 13 points while  Anthony Lawrence scored 12 points and Ja'Quan Newton tallied eleven.

Shawn Long tallied a double double with 21 points and 13 boards for Louisiana, as the Cajuns had five scorers in double figures.  Junior Jay Wright added 13 points, while senior Kasey Shepherd came off the bench to add twelve points.  Bryce Washington and Devonta Walker closed out the Cajuns in double figures with eleven points apiece.

For the game, Louisiana outrebounded Miami 38-31 but gave up 18 points on 13 turnovers (four in the second half) while the Cajuns could only muster seven points on Miami's ten turnovers.

The Cajuns will hit the road again for their next contest as Louisiana visits Alabama Friday night at 7:00pm at Coleman Coliseum.

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