J.J. Thomas scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and Louisiana-Lafayette pulled away in the second half for an 84-57 victory over Nicholls State on Sunday.
The Ragin' Cajuns (3-3) never trailed but led just 36-31 at halftime at the Beryl Shipley Classic, where they won two of three games.
Louisiana-Lafayette outscored the Colonels (1-4) 17-7 in the first 6:02 of the second half to take firm control. Thomas had five points in that stretch, and Darnell Jackson and Kadeem Coleby had four each. Jackson finished with 12 points and Coleby 11.
The Ragin' Cajuns shot 52.8 percent (19 of 36) in the second half to 28.6 percent (6 of 21) for the Colonels, who won one of three at the tournament. Louisiana-Lafayette also had a 38-29 rebounding advantage.
Chris Talkington scored 17 points for Nicholls State and Trevon Lewis had 15 in his first start for the Colonels.
