Louisiana-Lafayette beats Virgin Islands 121-80 in opener

Published Nov. 7, 2018 1:01 a.m. ET

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — JaKeenan Gant and Malik Marquetti scored 19 points apiece to lead six Louisiana-Lafayette players in double figures and the Ragin' Cajuns beat Virgin Islands 121-80 Tuesday night.

Jeremy Hayes had 16 points, Jerekius Davis scored 14 and Justin Miller 11. Cedric Russell added 10 points and Marcus Stroman had eight points, eight rebounds, 10 assists and two steals for ULL (1-0).

Miller scored nine points in the first three-plus minutes and Gant's layup about a minute later gave Louisiana an 11-point lead. Virgin Islands trimmed its deficit to six, but Hayes made and layup and then hit back-to-back jumpers to spark an 11-0 run that made it 33-16 and the Buccaneers trailed by double figures the rest of the way.

Elijah Bush led Virgin Islands with 24 points and Harold Cardwell scored 22.

The Ragin' Cajuns shot 68 percent from the field, including 14 of 25 from 3-point range.