Louisiana Lafayette Preview

Louisiana-Lafayette is coming off an overtime loss to Cal State Fullerton on Friday night to move to 1-3 for the season. The Rajin Cajuns have struggles so far this season, winning their opening game of the season against Division 2 Ouachita Baptist. The Cajuns have struggles since then, losing at Ole Miss by 15, at Oral Roberts by 3, and at home on Friday night against Cal State Fullerton by 2 in overtime. The Cajuns are led by 6'3" junior transfer David Dees and 6'7" Ross Mouton. Together, the two are averaging 43.3 points per game, along with 13.8 rebounds and 4.25 assists per game. They both average an astonishing 37.8 minutes per game. Dees and Mouton are joined in the backcourt by point guard Rhett Hebert, who averages 30 minutes per game. The three guards have accounted for 73% of the team's scoring thus far this year. The Cajuns have struggled from 3 this year, shooting just 23.5% from behind the arc, while holding their opponents to 24% from behind the arc. The Cajuns are averaging 3 more rebounds per game than their opponents, and have given up 18.5 turnovers per game this season.

KEYS TO THE GAME:

This game will be determined by how Tennessee is able to control Dees and Mouton. Both Dees and Mouton are clearly the focus of the Cajuns lineup, and they play lots of minutes. It’s no doubt that Bruce Pearl’s main focus will be on trying to wear down the two play makers. Pearl will be working to improve his transition defense which struggled last Friday night against North Carolina. Look for Pearl to press more to try to wear down the stars, but if his transition defense is as bad as it was Friday night, Pearl will have to pull the defense back to limit opportunities for the Rajin Cajuns. The Cajuns might be catching the Vols at a bad time, as the team seemed to turn a corner Friday night in the second half against the Tar Heels. Many of the players seemed to be fired up by JaJuan Smith’s ejection, and it will be interesting to see how the team has improved since their last time out. Key matchup of the game: The Cajuns’ transition offense against the Vols transition defense. If the Vols are able to limit opportunities for the Cajuns off the press, then Pearl will be able to press the Cajuns and wear them down. But young teams usually tend to struggle with transition defense as it requires lots of talking and communicating. If the Cajuns are able to break the press successfully, then they will be able to slow the game down, and keep their stars fresh, something that will be a priority for them coming off an overtime loss where Mouton and Dees combined to play 84 of the 90 minutes. I believe Pearl will have the Vols fired up to play this game, and will press successfully and wear down the Cajuns, pulling away at the end for a 10 point victory.

Projected Starting Lineups:

Louisiana-Lafayette

PG – 6’1” #31 Rhett Hebert
SG – 6’3” #21 David Dees
SF – 6’7” #22 Ross Mouton
PF – 6’8” #42 Courtney Wallace
C – 6’9” #32 Abray Milson

* Don’t be surprised if the Cajuns go small during this game bringing in 6’0” #12 Willie Lago for Milson. The Cajuns did this for much of the game against Cal State Fullerton, and might be tempted to do this for this game as well, especially with Tennessee’s press. That move would move Mouton down to the PF position for an interesting matchup with Dane Bradshaw.

Tennessee

PG – 6’2” #12 Ramar Smith
SG – 6’2” #5 Chris Lofton
SF – 6’2” #2 JaJuan Smith
PF – 6’4” #23 Dane Bradshaw
C – 6’7” #32 Duke Crews