MBB Game 23 Preview: at ULM

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team opens a three-game road trip beginning Saturday when it visits in-state opponent ULM at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on KHXT 107.9 FM and ESPN 1420 AM. A live stream of the game will be available at ESPN3.

Louisiana (19-3, 9-0 SBC) extended its win streak to nine games overall and 15 in Sun Belt Conference play dating back to last season with an 81-69 victory over Troy last week at the Cajundome. The Ragin' Cajuns claimed the previous meeting with ULM (9-11, 3-6 SBC) with an 82-48 decision on Jan. 13 and earned an 85-84 victory in last year's meeting in Monroe on Johnathan Stove's half-court bucket at the buzzer.

The Ragin' Cajuns will continue their road trip on Thursday visiting league rival Georgia State in Atlanta before traveling to face Georgia Southern next Saturday at Statesboro, Ga.

GAME 23: Louisiana (19-3, 9-0 SBC) at ULM (9-11, 3-6 SBC)
Date / Time: February 3, 2018 / 2 p.m.
Site: Monroe, La.
Arena: Cajundome (12,362)

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

TV/Internet: ESPN3
Talent: Drew Fellios (pxp); Bob Donewald (color); Whitney Haworth (sideline)

Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsMBB

Series: Louisiana leads, 53-23
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 32-4
At Monroe: Louisiana leads, 19-17
At Neutral Sites: ULM leads, 2-1
Streak: Louisiana +4

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Louisiana: 147-107 (eighth season), Career Record: 495-273 (25th season)

ULM
Head Coach: Keith Richard (ULM, 1982)
Record at ULM: 86-153 (eighth season), Career Record: 236-270 (17th season)

STORY LINES
• Louisiana looks for its 20th win on the season, marking the fourth time in the past five years to reach the 20-win plateau.
• A win in either of its next four games would mark the earliest date in school history that Louisiana has reached the 20-win mark, breaking the previous mark done twice on Feb. 17 (1973 and 2000).
• Louisiana looks to build on its best 22-game start since opening 20-2 in the 1972-73 season.
• Louisiana's current nine-game win streak is tied for the eighth-longest among Division I schools.
• Louisiana's 15 consecutive SBC victories dating back to last season is the longest streak in school history.
• The Cajuns have won 17 straight games against in-state schools dating back to December of 2015.
• Under Bob Marlin, Louisiana is 50-17 overall in games played in February.
• Bryce Washington enters today's game needing 15 rebounds to reach the 1,000-career mark. He would become the fourth player in both UL and Sun Belt Conference history to score 1,000 points and grab 1,000 rebounds in a career.
• Louisiana is the only school in the country ranked in the top 25 in the following categories (as of Jan. 30): Scoring Margin (8th, +15.2), assists per game (8th, 17.8), won-lost percentage (9th, .864), rebound margin (13th, 7.5), steals per game (16th, 8.4) and scoring offense (21st, 83.9).

QUICK HITS
• Bryce Washington is fourth among active Division I players in total rebounds (985), tied for sixth in career double-doubles (34), 31st in career field goal percentage (.571) and tied for 34th in games played (124).
• Louisiana is one of nine schools nationally (as of Jan. 30) that have won six or more games on the road and are undefeated at home. The Ragin' Cajuns are joined by Vermont, Nevada, St. Mary's, Montana, UC Santa Barbara, Villanova, Auburn and Purdue.
• Since the 2013-14 season, Louisiana has recorded 84 games with 80 or more points scored - the fifth-most by any Division I school during that span and trailing North Carolina (99), BYU (97), Gonzaga (92) and Duke (92).
• Washington is one of four Division I players to average a double-double during the past two seasons joining Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Alize Johnson (Missouri State) and James Thompson IV (Eastern Michigan).

SCOUTING THE WARHAWKS
• ULM enters today's game on a two-game win streak after posting an 83-74 win over visiting South Alabama on Saturday. The Warhawks opened the week with a come-from-behind 76-71 win over Troy on Thursday.
• Sam McDaniel, who is ninth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring, leads the Warhawks with a 15.6 average with Travis Munnings, 12th in the league in scoring (15.1) and 10th in rebounds (6.6) next.
• Freshman Michael Ertel averages 10.6 points per game for the Warhawks, who average 70.0 points as a team while leading the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.380).
• ULM has posted a 9-2 record at Fant-Ewing Coliseum this season, with its only setbacks coming to Northwestern State (76-61) and Appalachian State (79-73).

NEXT UP
• Louisiana will continue its road swing beginning on Thursday when it travels to the state of Georgia to face Georgia State (Feb. 8) and Georgia Southern (Feb. 10).

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Johnathan Stove

Bryce Washington

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