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LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana-Lafayette opened the second half with a 24-6 run and never looked back to defeat the University of South Alabama men's basketball team 92-82 Thursday night at the Cajundome.

The Ragin' Cajuns win their third straight to improve to 8-8 overall and 4-3 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars fall to 7-11 and 2-5.

"In the first half I thought we did some really good things," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "It was a game of runs and it was 46-44 at halftime. Throughout that half, it was difficult to find any kind of flow and rhythm with the amount of technical and fouls. We've got to play smarter and keep our cool a little bit, but at the same time, I absolutely love the fight, our willingness not to back down and stand strong and stay together as a team. It's absolutely fabulous."

ULL went 34 for 47 at the free-throw line for the contest compared to 12 for 22 for USA. There were 54 total fouls called.

"It's certainly hard to defend them when they're on the free-throw line," Graves stated. "They were plus-22 at the free-throw line, and that's a big reason for the margin of victory, and it's certainly frustrating that it turned into a free-throw shooting contest there for stretches of the game. Like I tell our team, you can't control that aspect of it, and it's certainly frustrating, but we have to move on and get ready to play in 36 hours."

The second half began with six foul shots after three technicals were assessed as the first half came to a close. The Jags made 1 of 2, but the Cajuns made all four and hit a jumper on the ensuing possession. After a South Alabama miss, Kasey Shepherd hit his fifth 3-pointer of the game for nine consecutive points and a 10-point advantage.

Just over three minutes after Shepherd's triple, Jay Wright hit a pair at the line to start a run of eight straight points and extend Louisiana-Lafayette's advantage to 70-50 with 13:12 left in the contest.

"At the end of the half, they issued some technicals, then we made one, they made four, then they scored a basket out of that," Graves said. "It was disappointing that we let that deflate us, and it kind of set a tone for the first two or three minutes of the second half."

The Jaguars outscored the Cajuns 17-6 to end the game after falling behind by 21.

"The thing that I'm proud of from our team, you're down 21 and you could've easily let that lead get to 30, but we kept fighting and stayed together," Graves noted. "We have to make some better decisions and better plays, but I don't think you can second-guess the effort and togetherness that we showed. That's what we need to continue to show as we move forward."

Shepherd had a game-high 27 points on 7-for-10 shooting overall and 6-for-8 from 3-point land. He was one of six ULL players in double-digits.

Junior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) had seven of his team-best 16 points at the free-throw line. Sophomore Nick Davis (Mt. Vernon, Ala.) grabbed a career-high nine rebounds, and senior Barrington Stevens III (Allen, Texas) dished out five assists.

Sophomore Shaq Calhoun (Rome, Ga.) had 13 points off the bench, and junior Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Stevens recorded 12 points each.

"Offensively I thought we did some really good things and they give you opportunities to score, but what we've preached and what we need to continue to do a better job of is we've got to be able to defend," Graves said. "You can't give up 92 points and expect to win on the road. The most disappointing stat to me is the 17 offensive rebounds. We've got to do a much better job of getting them off the glass.

South Alabama goes to Louisiana-Monroe Saturday for a 4 p.m. tip.

NOTES: The Jags had won six of the previous seven meetings in the series prior to tonight… There were nine technicals called in the game - five on USA, four on ULL… The Jaguars' 58.5 field-goal percentage is the highest in a loss since Dec. 15, 1984 at Youngstown State… The rebounds on ULL's offensive end were tied 17-17, and the Cajuns had 22 second-chance points… Shepherd ties the most points allowed by a USA opposing player this season (Phillip Rankin, Auburn-Montgomery), and ULL's six double-digit scorers is also a season-high by an opponent… Williams moved into second place at USA in career 3-point attempts (501), passing Demetric Bennett… After tonight's 8 for 17 performance from distance, the Jags are shooting 45.2 percent (19-42) in their last two games; the team converted just 20.8 percent in the three games prior… Tonight marked just the second defeat all season when USA outshot its opponent (7-2)… Stover has scored double-digit points in each of his last five games, and is averaging 12.0 points with a 52.4 shooting percentage over that span.

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—