MBB Game 19 Preview: at UTA

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team returns to action on Thursday when it travels to Arlington, Texas to face Sun Belt Conference rival UT Arlington in the nightcap of a doubleheader at College Park Center.

Tipoff is set for 7:15 p.m., and will follow the women's game between Louisiana and UTA at 5. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app with the game being broadcast in the Lafayette area on KHXT 107.9 FM and ESPN 1420 AM.

Louisiana (15-3, 5-0 SBC), officially off to its best start in SBC play since 1990-2000, won its fifth straight game last week with an 82-48 win over ULM at the Cajundome. Frank Bartley and JaKeenan Gant scored 12 points each to lead the Ragin' Cajuns with Johnathan Stove and Marcus Stroman adding 10 apiece.

Preseason SBC favorite UTA (12-7, 3-3 SBC) has won three of its last four games after starting league play with losses at Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State. The Mavs opened the season with seven wins in their first eight games with their lone setback a one-point contest (77-76) at Alabama on Nov. 21.

GAME 19: Louisiana (15-3, 5-0 SBC) at UT Arlington (12-7, 3-3 SBC)
Date / Time: January 18, 2018 / 7:15 p.m.
Site: Arlington, Texas
Arena: College Park Center (7,000)
Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM / ESPN 1420 AM
Talent: Jay Walker (pxp)

TV/Internet: ESPN3/WatchESPN
Talent: Pete Stein (pxp); Robert Gill (color)

Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsMBB

Series: Louisiana leads, 18-7
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 10-3
At Arlington: Louisiana leads, 7-5
At Neutral Sites: Louisiana leads, 1-0
Streak: Louisiana +1

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Louisiana: 143-107 (eighth season), Career Record: 491-273 (25th season)

UTA
Head Coach: Scott Cross (UTA, 1998)
Record at UTA: 216-155 (13th season), Career Record: Same

STORY LINES
• Louisiana looks build on its best 18-game start since opening 17-1 in the 1972-73 season.
• Louisiana's 11 consecutive SBC victories dating back to last season are the most in school history. The Ragin' Cajuns won 10 straight SBC games from Jan. 22, 2011-Feb. 26, 2011.
• Bryce Washington continues his climb up the Louisiana scoring charts with 1,155 points. Washington passed former teammate Jay Wright (1,148 points, 2014-17) for 32nd-place on the school's all-time list with eight points against ULM.
• One of five players in school history with 900 rebounds, Washington (935 rebounds) passed Dion Brown (1981-84) for fourth place on the Ragin' Cajuns career list with 12 rebounds against ULM.
• Washington is fourth among active Division I players in total rebounds (935), tied for sixth in career double-doubles (34) and is 26th in career field goal percentage (.575).
• Since the beginning of the 2013-14 season, Louisiana has won 100 games - currently the third-best mark during a five-season span in school history and seven wins shy of tying the most wins during the same stint since 1968-73.

QUICK HITS
• Louisiana's 15 points allowed in the first half against ULM last Saturday marked the fourth time this season the Ragin' Cajuns held an opponent to under 20 points in the first 20 minutes. The Ragin' Cajuns gave up 17 points in games against Iowa and Appalachian State and 19 against Loyola-New Orleans.
• The 15 points were the fewest allowed in a half by the Ragin' Cajuns dating back to the 2000-01 season.
• Louisiana has won 20 or more games in three of the past four seasons.
• Frank Bartley is nine points from reaching the 1,000-point mark in his NCAA career. He scored 214 points in two years at BYU before scoring 777 since transferring to Louisiana.
• Bryce Washington is one of five Division I players to average a double-double during the past two seasons joining Bonzie Colson (Notre Dame), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Alize Johnson (Missouri State) and James Thompson IV (Eastern Michigan).
• JaKeenan Gant is one of two Division I players currently averaging 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 blocks and shooting over 60 percent from the floor joining Ajdin Peneva of Marshall.
• Louisiana's 52.3 points per game allowed in the last three contests is tied with UCF for the second-lowest in the country behind Davidson (49.7).

SCOUTING THE MAVS
• Preseason SBC favorite UTA has won three of its last four games after starting league play with losses at Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State.
• The Mavs opened the season with seven wins in their first eight games with their lone setback a one-point contest (77-76) at Alabama on Nov. 21.
• Preseason Player of the Year Kevin Hervey is currently second in the league in scoring (20.4) and is third in rebounds (8.6). Erick Neal leads the league with 7.8 assists and 2.2 steals per game with Johnny Hamilton second in the SBC with 2.1 blocks per game.
• The Mavs enter this week's action ranked second behind Louisiana in scoring offense (79.0), field goal percentage (.466) and assists (16.6).

UP NEXT
• Louisiana concludes its trek through the Lone Star State on Saturday when it faces Texas State (Jan. 20) at 4:30 p.m., at Strahan Coliseum.

Players Mentioned

Frank Bartley

JaKeenan Gant

Johnathan Stove

Marcus Stroman

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright

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