Wright scores 24, Ragin' Cajuns advance in Sun Belt tourney (Mar 08, 2017)
NEW ORLEANS (AP) Jay Wright scored 24 points and seventh-seeded Louisiana-Lafayette eliminated 10th-seeded and defending tournament champ Little Rock 78-71 on Wednesday in an opening-round game at the Sun Belt Tournament.
Justin Miller made two free throws in the opening seconds of the second half and the Ragin' Cajuns (21-11) held on from there despite going without a field goal for nearly eight minutes. The Trojans (15-17) were within four points with two minutes left but ULL then made 15 of 16 free throws.
ULL sank 31 of 38 free throws, all but seven attempts coming in the second half.
Miller scored 20 points and Bruce Washington 12 points and nine rebounds for ULL while leading scorer Frank Bartley IV (15.9) didn't get his first points until he broke ULL's long field-goal drought with 2 1/2 minutes to go.
ULL, which won its seven straight, beat Little Rock three times this season.
Marcus Johnson Jr. scored 14 points and Kemy Osse 13 for the Trojans.
ULL plays No. 2 seed Georgia State in a quarterfinal on Friday.
