MBB Game 14 Preview: at Georgia Southern

STATESBORO, Ga. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball returns to action on Thursday (Jan. 14) when it faces Georgia Southern in a Sun Belt Conference game at Hanner Fieldhouse.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. CT and will be televised by ESPN3. The game can also be heard in the Lafayette area on Hot 107.9-FM and on the internet at RaginCajuns.com.

Louisiana (5-8, 1-3 SBC) returns to action after suffering a disappointing 71-69 setback at Arkansas State last Saturday. Shawn Long recorded his ninth double-double of the season – and 61st of his career – with 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns.

Long, who became the Ragin' Cajuns all-time leading rebounder earlier this season, passed former South Alabama standout Augustine Rubit as the Sun Belt Conference's all-time leading rebounder. The Morgan City, La., native has grabbed 1,196 rebounds in his career and is sixth in school history (8th in SBC history) with 1,941 points.

GAME 13: Louisiana (5-8, 1-3 Sun Belt) at Georgia Southern (5-9, 1-3 Sun Belt)
January 14, 2016 | 6:30 p.m. CT | Statesboro, Ga. | Hanner Fieldhouse (4,375)
TV/Web: ESPN3
Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM | Talent: Steve Peloquin (PBP)
Video: RaginCajuns.com
Live Stats: RaginCajuns.com
Twitter Updates: @Cajunbasketball
Series: UL leads, 3-2 | In Lafayette: UL leads, 3-1 | In Stateboro: GS leads, 1-0

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Career Record: 441-251 (23rd season), Record at UL: 93-85 (6th season)

GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Head Coach: Mark Byington (UNC Wilmington, 1995)
Career Record: 49-41 (4th season), Record at GS: 42-37 (3rd season)

STORY LINES
• Junior point guard Jay Wright, a native of nearby Rincon, Ga., returns to his home state for the second time in his Ragin' Cajuns career.

• Tonight's game pits the No. 1 scoring team in the Sun Belt Conference (Louisiana) against the No. 3 scoring offense (Georgia Southern).

• Louisiana has dropped its last eight regular-season road games with its last win away from teh Cajundome coming against Sam Houston State (71-70) in the 2015 CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

THE SERIES
• Louisiana leads the all-time series against Georgia Southern, 3-2, with the teams splitting the season-series last year in the Eagles debut season in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern claimed a 78-70 win last season in the first game played between the schools at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Ragin' Cajuns picked up a 68-58 win on Feb. 28, 2015 at the Cajundome.

THE OPPONENT
• Georgia Southern, the SBC's third-highest scoring team (79.1), earned a 93-88 overtime victory over Troy last week to snap a three-game losing streak. The Eagles have dropped six of their last eight games, including games at Texas State and UT Arlington, along with a home loss to South Alabama.

• Tookie Brown, who is sixth in the league in scoring, leads Georgia Southern's attack averaging 17.1 points per game with Ike Smith (12.5) and Mike Hughes (11.5) averaging in double figures.

UP NEXT
• Louisiana will wrap up its four-game road swing on Saturday, Jan. 16 when it travels to Atlanta to face defending league champion Georgia State at 1:30 p.m. CT.

QUICK HITS
• Shawn Long is the NCAA Division I active leader in both double-doubles (61) and rebounds (1,196). He ranks second among active NCAA Division I players rebound average (10.5), is third in both field goals made (729) and field goal attempts (1,468), fourth in points (1,941) and seventh in blocked shots (233).

• Long is currently ranked fifth nationally in rebounds per game (12.3).

• The Ragin' Cajuns 0-8 record in road games equals the 2010-11 team that eventually dropped their first 10 road games of the season before winning their last four of the season.

• Louisiana is ranked ninth nationally in total rebounds per game (43.1), 10th in offensive rebounds (14.9), 34th in rebound margin (+6.8) and 38th among Division I schools in scoring offense (81.0).

• Thanks to the play of senior Shawn Long and an up-tempo squad that can get to the bucket, Louisiana has averaged 40.3 points per game in the paint during the 2015-16 season.

• The Ragin' Cajuns have scored 40 or more points in the paint in seven games during the season posting a 5-2 record. Louisiana scored a season-high 68 points in the paint in its season opener against Louisiana College and added 56 points in a win over McNeese State.

MBB Game 14 Preview: at Georgia Southern

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Players Mentioned

Shawn Long

Jay Wright

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