MBB Game 32 Preview: vs. Little Rock

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team opens play in the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Wednesday when it faces defending regular-season and tournament champion Little Rock at Lakefront Arena.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. The game will be available on ESPN3 with Matt Stewart (pxp) and Bob Donewald (color) on the call. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on KHXT 107.9-FM and ESPN 1420 AM, along with worldwide on the RadioPup app. Live video and statistics will be available at RaginCajuns.com.

Louisiana (20-11), the No. 7 seed in the tournament, enters the postseason as the SBC's hottest team winning its last six games of the regular-season. The Ragin' Cajuns capped off the regular-season with an 83-81 win over league champion UT Arlington – marking the third 20-win season for Louisiana in the past four years.

Jay Wright and Frank Bartley, who were each named to the All-Sun Belt Conference team on Monday, scored 22 points to lead Louisiana with second-team All-SBC selection Bryce Washington recording his 22nd double-double of the season with 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Bartley, the SBC Newcomer of the Year, led Louisiana in scoring (15.9), and 3-pointers made per game (2.2). The junior finished eighth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring, sixth in field goal percentage (.455), 12th in free throw percentage (.723), 12th in assists (2.5), third in steals (1.7), sixth in 3-pointers made per game and 10th in 3-point field goal percentage (.372).

Wright, the 2017 SBC Defensive Player of the Year, led the Sun Belt in steals (1.9 per game) during the regular season and finished the year in the Top 10 in scoring (15.6 ppg), assists (4.1 apg), field goal percentage (.451), assist/turnover ratio (1.8) and minutes played (34.2 mpg). He had a nine games with 20+ points and had 11 games on the season with three or more steals.

Washington led the Sun Belt Conference in rebounds (11.5) and field goal percentage (.596) while averaging 13.5 points per game for the Ragin' Cajuns during the regular-season. The junior forward finished the regular-season fourth nationally in double-doubles (22) and total rebounds (357) and was fifth among Division I players in both rebounds per game and offensive rebounds per game (4.16).

The winner of Wednesday's game will face No. 2-seeded Georgia State in the quarterfinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

GAME 32: No. 7 Louisiana (20-11) vs. No. 10 Little Rock (15-16)
Date / Time: March 8, 2017 / 5 p.m.
Site: New Orleans, La.
Arena: Lakefront Arena (10,000)

Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM / ESPN 1420 AM
Talent: Jay Walker (pxp)

TV/Web: ESPN3
Talent: Matt Stewart (pxp), Bob Donewald (color)

Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsMBB

Series: Louisiana leads, 27-21
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 16-6
At Little Rock: Little Rock leads, 14-9
At Neutral Sites: Louisiana leads, 2-1
Current streak: Louisiana +2

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Career Record: 475-269 (24th season), Record at Louisiana: 127-103 (7th season)

LITTLE ROCK
Head Coach: Wes Flanigan (Auburn, 1997)
Career Record: 15-16 (first season), Record at Little Rock: Same

STORY LINES
• Louisiana is 52-28 overall in games played during the months of February and March under head coach Bob Marlin.

• Louisiana has been the lone Sun Belt Conference team to reach the semifinals of the league tournament each year since moving to New Orleans' Lakefront Arena in 2014.

• The Ragin' Cajuns 83-81 win over UT Arlington secured the third 20-win season for Louisiana in the past four years. Louisiana's 84 wins since the 2013-14 season are the most by the Ragin' Cajuns since winning 86 games between 1981-85.

• Bryce Washington has recorded 22 of his 25 career double-doubles this season. His career .577 percentage from the floor is currently the fourth-best in school history behind Roy Ebron (.579, 1970-73) and ahead of Bobby Cutrer (.569, 1964-66).

• Washington is fourth in the nation in double-doubles (22), with Purdue's Caleb Swanigan (25) and Seton Hall's Angel Delgado (25) leading all Division I players. The junior is fifth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.16), fifth in rebounds per game (11.5) and fourth in total rebounds (357).

QUICK HITS
• Jay Wright is currently eighth in school history with 369 assists and is three shy of passing Michael Allen (1991-94) for seventh place. The senior has scored 1,097 points and is 11 points shy of tying Cedric Hill (1,108, 1981-86) for 34th place on the Ragin' Cajuns all-time list.

• Louisiana is 7-5 this season in games decided by six points or less. In 2015-16, the Ragin' Cajuns were 0-6 in close games and are 41-41 overall under Bob Marlin.

• Bryce Washington is 63 points shy of becoming the 45th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark.

• With 734 career rebounds, Washington is 12 rebounds shy of tying Randal Smith (746, 1985-88) for ninth place in school history.

SCOUTING THE TROJANS
• Little Rock won back-to-back games against Georgia Southern (2/27) and South Alabama (3/2) before falling at Troy in the regular-season finale. The wins against GS and USA were the Trojans' first set of consecutive victories in conference play.

• Little Rock played its best three-game stretch of defense all season in the games. None of the teams scored more than 57 points. The Trojans' combined defensive field goal percentages over the three games were 37.2 percent overall and 32.8 percent from the 3-point line. Little Rock played to a +6.3 margin on the glass over the three games.

• Both wins were in come-from-behind fashion. Little Rock overcame a 12-point deficit to top Georgia Southern on Feb. 27 before coming from 15 down to beat South Alabama on March 2.

UP NEXT
• The winner will advance to face No. 2-seeded Georgia State in the quarterfinals on Friday at 5 p.m.

Players Mentioned

Frank Bartley

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright

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