Cajuns Can't OVercome Cold First Half in Minnesota

It's cold outside in Minnesota this time of year.

For the Cajuns, it was cold inside the Williams Center Friday night as well.

Louisiana could manage just four first half field goals as Minnesota ran away with an 86-74 victory at "The Barn."

The Cajuns (0-1) got in early foul trouble to go along with the cold shooting as the Golden Gophers (1-0) led from tip to buzzer. Minnesota closed the first half on a 12-2 run and led 48-26 at the half. The Gophers increased the lead to 26 in the second half before settling for the final margin.

"We got in early foul trouble and Bryce and Stove each had three in the first half. We had to play some freshmen and they're going to have growing pains," head coach Bob Marlin said. "But we outrebounded them and had only three turnovers in the second half. We just have to shoot better."

Frank Bartley Johnathan Stove and Jay Wright shot just 3-23 from the field.

Freshman Justin Miller had 21 points off the bench to lead the Cajuns, while Bryce Washington had a double double with 16 points and ten rebounds. Freshman Kadavion Evans had eleven points.

"Justin's very skilled and he can do a lot of things with the basketball. He scored in a lot of different ways tonight. He has to guard without fouling and rebound better, but he did a great job on the offensive end."

The Gophers put five in double figures as Dupree McBrayer and Nate Mason led the way with 15 points each. Amir Coffey added 13 points, while Akeem Springs added eleven and Reggie Lynch pitched in ten.

The Cajuns finished the game with 31.9% shooting, including 7-21 from three point range. The Cajuns made their first twelve free throws before settling for 23-30 from the free throw line. The Cajuns outrebounded Minnesota 42-39.

After shooting over 60 percent in the first half, Minnesota finished with 50.9% shooting and hit 10-25 from beyond the arc.

Louisiana heads now to Bozeman, Montana where they'll play Montana State Monday night, with tipoff scheduled for 8pm, CST.