LAFAYETTE, La. – Louisiana-Lafayette's Bryce Washington led all players with 25 points and 13 rebounds in the Ragin' Cajuns' 87-61 victory over the University of South Alabama men's basketball team Monday night at the Cajundome.

The Cajuns snap a four-game losing streak and move to 15-11 overall and 5-8 in the Sun Belt Conference. The Jaguars drop to 12-13 and 5-7.

"I thought we prepared well tonight – we had a good practice on Sunday and it was a good shootaround today – but unfortunately we weren't able to make shots," USA head coach Matthew Graves said. "For the most part we took good shots, we just didn't connect for whatever reason tonight. As the game wore on, our inability to score led them to easy baskets."

Washington shot 12 for 15 from the floor, and led an offense that shot 50.8 percent from the floor for the contest and 60.7 percent in the second half alone. The Cajuns scored 50 points after halftime, the most by a USA opponent this season.

"It was really a product of us not doing a good job of not guarding them off the bounce," Graves said. "They got in the paint and dumped down, and we would over-help. They also got a few offensive putbacks as a team. Overall, we just didn't get it done tonight, and that's frustrating."

ULL took the lead at the 14:03 mark of the first half on a 3-pointer from Jay Wright and never trailed again.

After USA senior Don MuepoKelly (Fontana, Calif.) scored the first two points after intermission to trim the Jaguars' deficit to 37-30, the Ragin' Cajuns reeled off nine straight to go up 16 less than three minutes into the second half.

The Jags trailed by 13 at the midway point of the second half and had a chance to cut it to 10, but was unable to do so, and the Cajuns went on a 16-4 run in the next 3:43 to put the game away.

South Alabama shot just 33.8 percent from the field – its lowest percentage in Sun Belt play – and converted one of its 15 attempts from behind the 3-point arc.

"We just never got in any rhythm," Graves noted. "We were off most of the night. We were maybe a half-step too slow in our cuts. We never had a point where we scored six or eight straight points. We didn't get out in transition as much as we normally do, and that's a credit to Louisiana-Lafayette – they did a good job of keeping us out of transition."

USA senior Nick Stover (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored 12 of his team-high 14 points after halftime, and senior Ken Williams (Houston, Texas) and MuepoKelly added 11 points each.

Freshman Josh Ajayi (El Monte, Calif.) grabbed 10 rebounds for his second consecutive double-digit rebounding performance.

Frank Bartley was the only other ULL player to hit double-figure points with 10.

The Jaguars return home Saturday to face Appalachian State at 7:05 p.m.

NOTES: Ajayi was held below 10 points for just the second time in Sun Belt play… South Alabama's four losses to UL Lafayette under Graves are by an average of 21.5 points… ULL won the rebounding battle 47-32… USA converted better than 80 percent from the free-throw line for just the second time all season – both are in the last two games… The Jags' 1-for-15 performance from behind the 3-point line – a season low – comes one game after setting a new season best at Louisiana-Monroe… ULL has scored 80 points or more against USA seven times in the last 10 meetings… The Jaguars, who brought in the nation's 27th best 3-point defense, allowed the Cajuns to hit 47.1 percent from distance; they are just the second opponent in the last nine games to convert better than 40 percent… Williams' 11 points are the fewest in his career against UL Lafayette; his previous low was 16 last season, and he came into Monday averaging 21.3 points in the series… Williams extended his double-digit scoring streak to 10, the longest active run on the team… Williams passed Jeff Hodge for sixth in South Alabama history with 328 made free throws… MuepoKelly is averaging 9.9 points and shooting 58.5 percent from the field in his last eight games, and is averaging 12.7 points in his last three outings.

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships are scheduled for a week of March Madness in the Big Easy.  New Orleans will once again be home to the two championships that will take place at Lakefront Arena from March 7-12 and ticket books can now be purchased from your school's ticket office.  For more information, visit the Sun Belt Conference's championship central websites - Men's Championship – Women's Championship – and be sure to follow the #FunBelt on social media - @SunBelt.

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).

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