The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns used their superior athleticism to race to a 20 point halftime lead and went on to defeat the Iowa Hawkeyes, 80-71 in the first round of the Cayman Islands Classic Monday in George Town, Grand Cayman.

The Cajuns used a 21-1 run over a nine minute stretch of the first half, and Iowa (3-1( never recovered.  The nine point margin of victory was as close as Iowa got in the second half.

Frank Bartley IV led the Cajuns (3-1) with 17 points, while Ja'Keenan Gant added 16.  Bryce Washington had his second straight double double with 15 points and ten rebounds, while Justin Miller added 14 points.

Marcus Stroman did not score, but had eleven assists, as the Cajuns assisted 25 times on their 30 made baskets.

Isaiah Moss led Iowa with 24 points, while Jordan Bohannon hit four three point baskets and finished with 21 points.

P. J. Hardy started the Cajuns' run with a three pointer at the 11:21 mark of the first half to break a 10-10 tie.  Cedric Russell followed with a triple of his own before Gant hit back to back baskets to give the Cajuns a 20-10 advantage.  Justin Miller hit a layup and after Jack Nunge made a free throw, Bartley scored five straight points and Washington capped the onslaught with a pair of layups to give the Cajuns a 31-11 lead.

After Bohannon hit a three pointer to open the second half, the Cajuns reeled off seven straight points as Washington and Bartley hit layups, Gant scored inside and Washington hit a free throw to give the Cajuns their biggest lead, 44-20 with 18:06 to play.  After Malik Marquetti hit a three pointer at the 14:07 mark to make the score 49-28, Iowa scored seven straight to cut the lead to 14.  But the Cajuns matched the Hawkeyes over the next ten minutes and still led by 14 with 2:52 left before settling for the final margin.

Louisiana will play in the semifinals tomorrow at 1:30 against either South Dakota State or Wyoming.  Iowa meets the loser of that game at 11:00am.

 

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