MBB Game 34 Preview: at LSU (First Round - NIT)

BATON ROUGE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team opens play in the 2018 NIT on Wednesday when it visits in-state opponent LSU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on KHXT 107.9 FM and worldwide on RaginCajuns.com and the Hot 107.9 app. The game will also be available on ESPN3 with Drew Fellios (pxp) and Bob Valvano (color) providing the commentary.

Louisiana (27-6) makes its sixth appearance in the NIT and first since 2003. The Ragin' Cajuns earned one of 12 automatic bids to the NIT after claiming the Sun Belt Conference regular-season championship.

The meeting against LSU (17-14) is the first between the schools since Dec. 1, 2009 and just the sixth on the hardwood since World War II.

The winner will advance to face the winner of Utah and UC Davis this weekend.

GAME 34: Louisiana (27-6) at LSU (17-14)
Date / Time: March 14, 2018 / 6 p.m.
Site: Baton Rouge, La.
Arena: Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,215)

Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM
Talent: Jay Walker (pxp)

TV/Internet: ESPN3
Talent: Drew Fellios (pxp), Bob Valvano (color)

Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Social Updates: @RaginCajunsMBB | #GeauxCajuns

Series: LSU leads, 36-10
At Lafayette: LSU leads, 5-3
At Baton Rouge: LSU leads, 31-7
Streak: LSU +7

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Louisiana: 155-110 (eighth season), Career Record: 502-276 (25th season)

LSU
Head Coach: Will Wade (Clemson, 2005)
Record at LSU: 17-14 (first season), Career Record: 108-59 (fifth season)

STORY LINES
• Louisiana makes its sixth appearance in the National Invitation Tournament and its first since 2003.
• Tonight's meeting with LSU is the sixth on the hardwood between the schools since the end of World War II. The previous five meetings have come since Dec. 4, 2001.
• Louisiana's 27 wins during the 2017-18 season are a school-record, breaking the previous mark (25) set in 1970-71, 1971-72 and 1999-2000.
• Louisiana's 48 wins in the past two seasons are tied with the Cajuns 1970-72 teams for the most during a two-year stretch.
• Louisiana has won its last 18 games against in-state competition dating back to December of 2015.
• Under head coach Bob Marlin, Louisiana is 59-32 overall in games played in February and March.

QUICK HITS
• Seniors Frank Bartley and Johnathan Stove are Baton Rouge natives and prepped at Christian Life Academy. Tonight's game will be their first collegiate game in their hometown.
• Louisiana led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring offense for the sixth straight year and 11th time overall. The Ragin' Cajuns 83.4 points per game is the highest by an SBC team since South Alabama (84.6) in 1994-95.
• Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin earned a 60-57 win over LSU in Baton Rouge on Jan. 7, 1998 when he served as acting head coach at Alabama for then head coach David Hobbs, who missed the game due to the death of his father-in-law in Virginia and was unable to get back to the team due to bad weather and plane problems.
• Since the 2013-14 season when Louisiana last reached the NCAA Tournament, the Ragin' Cajuns have recorded 92 games with 80 or more points scored - the fifth-most by any Division I school during that span and trailing North Carolina (106), BYU (100), Gonzaga (95) and Duke (95).
• With an appearance tonight, Bryce Washington will tie Steven Wronkoski for the most appearances in school history (136).
• Marcus Stroman has dished out 206 assists on the season - the fifth-highest total in a single-season in school history. He is three assists shy of passing Elfrid Payton (208, 2013-14) for the fourth-most in a single-season.
• JaKeenan Gant's 72 blocked shots in 2017-18 are the fifth-most in a single-season in Ragin' Cajuns history. Gant needs two blocks to pass Kadeem Colby (73, 2011-12) to move into fourth-place on the single-season list.

THREE CAJUNS REACH 1,000-POINT MARK IN 2017-18
• With Frank Bartley reaching the 1,000-point mark on March 1 against Arkansas State, he became part of the fifth trio in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark in the same season.
• Bartley, who is one of nine players to reach the mark in two seasons, joined seniors Bryce Washington and Johnathan Stove in reaching the 1,000-point mark.
• The trio is the first to reach the 1,000-point mark since 2013-14 when Elfrid Payton, Shawn Long and Bryant Mbamalu achieved the feat en route to the Sun Belt Conference Tournament championship and berth in the NCAA Championships.
• Other Ragin' Cajun trios to reach the 1,000-point mark in the same season include:

1971-72 - Dwight "Bo" Lamar, Roy Ebron, Payton Townsend
1983-84 - Alonza Allen, Dion Brown, Graylin Warner
1993-94 - Michael Allen, Byron Starks, Tony Moore

BORN ON THE BAYOU
• Eight of the 15 players on the 2017-18 Ragin' Cajuns basketball team hail from the state of Louisiana.
• Baton Rouge - Frank Bartley (Christian Life Academy) and Johnathan Stove (Christian Life Academy); New Orleans - Bryce Washington (St. Augustine); Lafayette - Jacob Broussard (Lafayette Christian Academy); Lake Charles - P.J. Hardy (St. Louis Catholic); Alexandria - Cedric Russell (Peabody) Luling - Mason Aucoin (Hahnville); Shreveport - Kadavion Evans (North Caddo).

MBB Game 34 Preview: at LSU (First Round - NIT)

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Mason Aucoin

Frank Bartley

Jacob Broussard

Kadavion Evans

JaKeenan Gant

P.J. Hardy

Shawn Long

Bryant Mbamalu

Elfrid Payton

Cedric Russell

Johnathan Stove

Marcus Stroman

Bryce Washington

Steven Wronkoski

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