Long leads Louisiana Lafayette over McNeese State 97-64

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) Shawn Long scored 24 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Louisiana Lafayette defeated McNeese State 97-64 on Wednesday night.

Long has 56 double-doubles and has 1,103 rebounds. The senior forward is the Division I active leader in both categories.

The Ragin' Cajuns scored 19 straight points to take a 24-point lead in the first half, which ended with Louisiana ahead 52-31. A 12-0 run made it a 40-point lead with 3:29 remaining in the game.

Jay Hedgeman added 13 points for the Ragin' Cajuns (3-3), who came in ranked fourth nationally at 90.8 points per game. Louisiana narrowly missed its third 100-point game.

Adrian Brown led the Cowboys (1-6) with 11 points. McNeese State had 20 turnovers that Louisiana turned into 34 points. Louisiana outscored McNeese State 56-30 in the paint.

The score tied the second-largest margin of victory in the series between the Interstate-10 rivals. Louisiana leads 56-35.