The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team begins its quest in defending its Sun Belt Conference regular-season title on Thursday when it opens league play against visiting Arkansas State at the Cajundome.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Louisiana (9-4), which won nine or more non-conference games for the third straight season, closed out the 2018 portion of its schedule with a 73-72 win at Southeastern Louisiana. The Ragin’ Cajuns have won 18 of their 27 SBC openers, including three of the last four. Louisiana claimed the 2018 SBC regular-season title after posting a 27-7 overall record and 16-2 mark in league play.
JaKeenan Gant (16.3 ppg.), Marcus Stroman (12.3) and Justin Miller (10.2) are the top scorers for Louisiana with Gant pulling down a team-high 7.6 rebounds per contest.
Arkansas State (6-7) has won three of its last four games heading into its SBC opener, including an 87-62 win over Harding on Dec. 29. Ty Cockfield paces the Red Wolves in scoring at 20.7 points per game with Marquis Eaton averaging 10.6.
Louisiana leads the all-time series against A-State, 51-24, and have won 10 of the last 11 meetings at the Cajundome. The Ragin’ Cajuns swept the season series in 2017-18, earning an 88-78 win in Jonesboro on Dec. 31, 2017, and an 85-74 victory on March 1, 2018 at the Cajundome.
GAME INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (9-4, 0-0 SBC) vs. ARKANSAS STATE (6-7, 0-0 SBC)
Date / Time: January 3, 2019 / 7 p.m.
Site: Lafayette, La.
Arena: Cajundome (12,362)
SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Louisiana leads, 51-24
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 30-8
In Jonesboro: Louisiana leads, 20-16
Neutral: Louisiana leads, 1-0
Streak: Louisiana +2
THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Louisiana: 164-115 (ninth season), Career Record: 512-281 (26th season)
ARKANSAS STATE
Head Coach: Mike Balado (St. Thomas [Fla.], 1998)
Record at A-State: 17-28 (second season), Career Record: Same
STORY LINES
• Louisiana opens its 28th season of Sun Belt Conference basketball and faces Arkansas State in the league lid lifter for the second time in the past three seasons.
• In SBC openers, Louisiana is 18-9 overall and 4-4 under head coach Bob Marlin.
• Louisiana has won eight of the last 11 meetings in the series.
• In games played in Lafayette, the Ragin’ Cajuns have won 10 of the last 11 meetings dating back to the 2007-08 season.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns are officially 257-179 in Sun Belt Conference play.
QUICK HITS
• Louisiana’s 73-72 victory at Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday was its first one-point win since defeating ULM, 85-84, on Feb. 18, 2017. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 11-4 overall in one-point games under head coach Bob Marlin and 55-49 overall in school history.
• Three of Louisiana’s four losses in 2018-19 are to teams (Tennessee, Kansas and Toledo) ranked or receiving votes in the current AP Top 25 and USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
• Louisiana is second in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring (83.4 ppg.), free throw percentage (.746), steals (8.4) and 3-point field goals made per game (9.2).
• Marcus Stroman’s assist on JaKeenan Gant’s game-winning bucket at Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday was the 300th of his Ragin’ Cajuns career. Stroman became the 19th player in school history with 300 assists and needs two to pass Blane Harmon (1998-01) for 18th place.
• The six blocks by JaKeenan Gant – all in the second half – at Southeastern Louisiana moved him past Marvin Lancaster (1986-89) into fifth-place on the Ragin’ Cajuns career list.
• Gant and Brandon Clarke (Gonzaga) are the only Division I players averaging 16 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks per game.
• Stroman and Brian Beard, Jr. (Florida International) are the only Division I players averaging 12 points, 4 rebounds. 6.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game.
CAJUNS GET BATTLE-TESTED EARLY
• For only the second time in school history, Louisiana faced at least two teams ranked in the top 10 when it played at No. 6 Tennessee (Nov. 9) and No. 2 Kansas (Nov. 16).
• The only other time Louisiana faced two top-10 teams in the same season was in 2004-05 when the Ragin’ Cajuns played then No. 2-ranked Kansas (L, 96-51) and No. 4 Louisville (L, 68-62).
• The Nov. 16 game at Kansas was Louisiana’s second contest against a No. 2-ranked team in school history – ironically, the previous game against a No. 2 team was Kansas.
• Louisiana’s lone win against a top-5 team in nine games came in a 70-61 win over then-No. 5 Georgetown (with freshman Patrick Ewing) in the opening game of the 1981 Great Alaska Shootout.
THE RAGIN’ CAJUNS LEGACY LIVES ON
• Two members of the 2018-19 Ragin’ Cajuns squad are following in the footsteps of their fathers, who each played for then-USL.
• Freshman forward Kobe Julien (Baton Rouge) is the son of former Ragin’ Cajuns forward Wayne Julien (1977-81) with freshman guard Eli Mouton(Lafayette) the son of former Ragin’ Cajuns player and current ESPN+ analyst Eric Mouton.
BORN ON THE BAYOU
• Eight of the 15 players on the 2018-19 Ragin’ Cajuns basketball team hail from the state of Louisiana.
• Baton Rouge – Kobe Julien (Madison Prep) and Jalen Johnson (University Lab); Lafayette – Eli Mouton (Ascension Episcopal School); Lake Charles – P.J. Hardy (St. Louis Catholic); Alexandria – Cedric Russell (Peabody); Luling – Mason Aucoin (Hahnville); DeRidder – R.J. Gladney (DeRidder); Roseland – Jeremy Hayes.
TEAMS PLAY FAST UNDER MARLIN
• During Bob Marlin‘s 25-year tenure as a head coach, that includes three trips to the NCAA Tournament and a NJCAA national championship, his teams have employed an fast-paced style of basketball that has averaged 78.5 points per game during that span.
• His teams have averaged over 70 points per game 24 of the 25 years.
• The last six Ragin’ Cajuns teams under Marlin have led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring.
• His last five teams have averaged 19th among 351 Division I teams in scoring.
• The 2017-18 edition averaged 83.2 points per game and posting the highest season average since the 1990-91 season.
TROPHY MARLIN
• Head coach Bob Marlin is in his ninth season at the helm of the Ragin’ Cajuns with his teams from 2013-15 equaling the most wins (45) since a period from 1982-84 which saw then-USL post records of 22-10 (1982-83) and 23-10 (1983-84).
• During the past two seasons, Louisiana’s 48 wins equaled the 1970-72 teams for the best two-year mark in school history.
• Under Marlin’s guidance, the Ragin’ Cajuns have made five postseason appearances, including a berth in the 2014 NCAA Championships.
• He is 164-115 in his career at Louisiana and has taken two teams – Louisiana (2014) and Sam Houston State (2003, 2010) to the NCAA Championships.
AT HOME IN THE DOME
• In eight of the past nine seasons, Louisiana has won 10 or more games in the Cajundome, highlighted by a single-season record tying 14 victories in 2017-18.
• Louisiana is 4-1 overall at the Cajundome in 2018-19.
• Since opening in 1985-86, Louisiana has posted a 333-126 record in the Cajundome and is 95-28 under head coach Bob Marlin.
