University of Tennessee Athletics
University of Tennessee
2-0
Louisiana-Lafayette
0-2
VOLS HOLD OFF CAJUNS 83-76 BEHIND PATTERSON'S 21
November 22, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 22, 2005
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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Andre Patterson scored 21 points and C.J. Watson had 17 to lead Tennessee to an 83-76 nonconference victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on Tuesday night.
The Vols (2-0) led by 21 in the second half, but the Ragin' Cajuns (0-2) rallied for a one-point lead with just less than five minutes to play.
Chris Lofton and Major Wingate added 12 points each and Stanley Asumnu had 11 for the Vols. Wingate, a junior center, was questionable for the game after suffering a foot injury in practice Sunday.
Louisiana-Lafayette was led in scoring by Dwayne Mitchell with 19 points, Maurice Barksdale and Ed Turner with 14 each and Chris Cameron with 12.
The Ragin' Cajuns had a 50-32 rebounding edge led by Mitchell, a 6-5 guard, with 20 rebounds. Louisiana-Lafayette senior center Michael Southall, who scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in the season-opening loss to Southern Illinois, fouled out with four points and four rebounds in 16 minutes.
Tennessee used a 14-3 run and opened up an 18-8 lead on Patterson's 3-pointer with 13:47 left in the half. The Ragin' Cajuns cut it to four with just less than 10 minutes to play in the half and trailed 31-23 left with five minutes left.
Tennessee finished the half with a 12-2 run, capped by Lofton's desperation 3-pointer from 25 feet at the buzzer. The Vols led 43-25 at halftime.
Southall picked up two quick fouls and played only seven minutes in the first half. He had no points at halftime and fouled out with 6:06 left.
Tennessee led by 21 four times early in the second half.
The Ragin' Cajuns trailed by 14 with 9:35 to play, but trimmed the lead to 63-60 with a 12-1 run. Turner scored the last seven points of the run, capped by his 3-pointer with 6:30 to play.
Cameron's 3-pointer with 4:55 left gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 66-65 lead, their first lead since early in the game.
It was 69-69 with four minutes to play.
Tennessee scored the next five points on Asumnu's fast-break dunk and Watson's 3-pointer and led by three or more the rest of the game.
