@RaginCajunsMBB Game 32 Preview: vs. South Alabama

NEW ORLEANS – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team officially opens play in the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Championships on Thursday when it faces eighth-seeded South Alabama in a second round game at New Orleans' Lakefront Arena.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+ with Matt Stewart (pxp), Bob Donewald (color) and Whitney Haworth (sideline) on the call. Fans can listen to the game in the Lafayette area on KHXT-FM (107.9), ESPN 1420 AM and worldwide on RaginCajuns.com with Jay Walker (PxP) and Ross Cook (color) providing the commentary.

Fifth-seeded Louisiana (19-12) closed out the regular-season last week with road wins at Little Rock (77-72) and Arkansas State (90-87). The Ragin' Cajuns claimed an 88-84 win over South Alabama (16-16) in the previous meeting between the schools with JaKeenan Gant scoring 28 points.

South Alabama opened tournament play with a 75-67 win over ninth-seeded Arkansas State on Monday in Mobile. Jay Ajayi scored a game-high 22 points for the Jaguars with Kory Holden coming off the bench to add 20.

The winner between Louisiana and South Alabama will advance to Friday's quarterfinal where it will face fourth-seeded Texas State at 5 p.m.

GAME INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (19-12) vs. SOUTH ALABAMA (16-16)
Date / Time: March 14, 2019 / 5 p.m.
Site: New Orleans, La.
Arena: Lakefront Arena (8,785)

RADIO/TV
Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM / ESPN 1420 AM
Talent: Jay Walker (PxP); Ross Cook (Color)
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Matt Stewart (PxP); Bob Donewald (color); Whitey Haworth (sideline)

LIVE STATS/SOCIAL MEDIA
Live Stats: CajunStats.com
Social Updates: @RaginCajunsMBB | #GeauxCajuns

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Louisiana leads, 31-27
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 16-12
In Mobile: South Alabama leads, 13-12
Neutral: Louisiana leads, 3-2
Streak: Louisiana +5

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Louisiana: 174-123 (ninth season), Career Record: 522-289 (26th season)

SOUTH ALABAMA
Head Coach: Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 16-16 (first season), Career Record: 51-44 (third season)

STORY LINES
• Louisiana enters the Sun Belt Conference Championships as the No. 5 seed for the third time overall and first time since 2008.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are officially 26-21 in the Sun Belt Conference Championships, earning their last title in 2014 at Lakefront Arena.
• The winner between Louisiana and South Alabama will face No. 4 seed Texas State in the quarterfinals on Friday at 5 p.m.
• Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin is one win shy of reaching the 400-win mark as a Division I coach. He is 174-123 in his ninth season at Louisiana and posted a 225-131 record in 12 seasons at Sam Houston State.
• Louisiana's JaKeenan Gant is the only Division I player averaging 20 points, eight rebounds and 2.7 blocks during the 2018-19 season.
• Louisiana is 22-16 overall in games played during the month of March under head coach Bob Marlin and a combined 65-37 in both February/March.
• A win for Louisiana would clinch its 25th season with 20 or more victories in school history. It would also mark the third straight season with 20+ wins and match the longest streak in school history (1970-73, 1981-84, and 1989-92).

QUICK HITS
• Louisiana is 12-4 overall when scoring 80 or more points during the 2018-19 season.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are 12-2 overall when holding an opponent to under 80 points.
• Louisiana is 8-2 this season in games decided by six points or less.
• South Alabama's Josh Ajayi (.562) and Louisiana's JaKeenan Gant (.541) are ranked 1-2 in the Sun Belt Conference in field goal percentage.
• Gant (2.7) and South Alabama's Trhae Mitchell (2.1) are ranked 1-2 in the Sun Belt Conference in blocked shots during the 2018-19 season.
• Bob Marlin's 101 wins in Sun Belt Conference games are the most by an active coach in the league. Louisiana's 77-72 win at Little Rock on Thursday made Marlin the fifth coach in SBC history to earn 100 wins in league play.
• Louisiana has used 10 different starting lineups during the 2018-19 season, including six since losing senior Malik Marquetti to a knee injury in the non-conference finale on Dec. 29.

GANT REPEATS AS SBC DEFENSIVE POY
• JaKeenan Gant earned postseason honors by the Sun Belt Conference as he was selected as the league's Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive season while being named a first-team selection in voting by the league's head coaches and a selected media panel.
• The selection of Gant, who was selected as both the league's Defensive and Newcomer of the Year in 2018, marked the third straight season a Louisiana player was chosen as the Sun Belt's top defensive player, joining former high school teammate and Ragin' Cajuns point guard Jay Wright.
• The Springfield, Ga., native, joined Wright (2017) and Elfrid Payton (2014) as the only Ragin' Cajuns in earning the award, while Gant became the fifth player overall and first two-time winner of the league's Defensive Player of the Year Award since Brett Royster of Florida Atlantic in 2010-11.
• The 6-foot-8 senior finished the regular season ranked third in the Sun Belt in scoring (20.4), led the league in blocked shots (2.7) for the second consecutive year while finishing second in the league in both rebounds (8.6) and field goal percentage (.541). In Sun Belt games, Gant averaged 23.1 points – third among all SBC players – while finishing second in field goal percentage (.562) and pacing the conference in both rebounds (9.2) and blocked shots (2.2).

GANT NAMED TO USBWA ALL-DISTRICT VII TEAM
• One day after being named the Sun Belt Conference's Defensive Player of the Year and earning first-team honors, Louisiana's JaKeenan Gant picked up more postseason accolades when he was selected to the 2018-19 U.S. Basketball Writers Association Men's Basketball All-District VII team.
• The USBWA has selected All-District Teams since the 1956-57 season, its founding year. The selection of Gant marked the second consecutive year a Ragin' Cajuns standout was named to the team with Frank Bartley named after the 2017-18 season.
• Gant was one of 10 players selected to the all-district team, comprised of all Division I schools in the states of Louisiana, Texas and Arkansas. Gant was one of three Sun Belt Conference players named to the squad, joining Arkansas State's Ty Cockfield and ULM guard Daishon Smith.

USBWA All-District selections
2018-19 - JaKeenan Gant
2017-18 - Frank Bartley
2015-16 - Shawn Long
2013-14 - Shawn Long
2009-10 - Tyren Johnson

MARLIN JOINS SELECT COMPANY
• With Louisiana's 77-72 win over Little Rock on March 7, head coach Bob Marlin became the fifth coach in league history to reach the 100-win mark.
• Marlin, who is 100-63 in Sun Belt games in his career, joins a list that includes Kermit Davis, Jr. (Middle Tennessee, 117), Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama, 112), Gene Bartow (UAB, 111) and Dickey Nutt (Arkansas State, 103) as coaches with 100 victories in Sun Belt Conference play during their careers.

THE RAGIN' CAJUNS LEGACY LIVES ON
• Two members of the 2018-19 Ragin' Cajuns squad are following in the footsteps of their fathers, who each played for then-USL.
• Freshman forward Kobe Julien (Baton Rouge) is the son of former Ragin' Cajuns forward Wayne Julien (1977-81) with freshman guard Eli Mouton (Lafayette) the son of former Ragin' Cajuns player and current ESPN+ analyst Eric Mouton.

BORN ON THE BAYOU
• Eight of the 15 players on the 2018-19 Ragin' Cajuns basketball team hail from the state of Louisiana.
• Baton Rouge - Kobe Julien (Madison Prep) and Jalen Johnson (University Lab); Lafayette - Eli Mouton (Ascension Episcopal School); Lake Charles - P.J. Hardy (St. Louis Catholic); Alexandria - Cedric Russell (Peabody); Luling - Mason Aucoin (Hahnville); DeRidder - R.J. Gladney (DeRidder); Roseland - Jeremy Hayes.

STROMAN DISHING IT OUT
• With 201 assists during the 2018-19 season at Louisiana, senior Marcus Stroman became the first-ever Ragin' Cajuns floor general to reach the 200-assist mark twice in a career.
• With 414 career assists in his two-year career, Stroman became the ninth player in school history - and first since for Cajun and current New Orleans Pelicans guard Elfrid Payton (2011-14) - to reach the 400-mark with eight assists at Little Rock on March 7.

TROPHY MARLIN
• Head coach Bob Marlin is in his ninth season at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns with his teams from 2013-15 equaling the most wins (45) since a period from 1982-84 which saw then-USL post records of 22-10 (1982-83) and 23-10 (1983-84).
• During the past two seasons, Louisiana's 48 wins equaled the 1970-72 teams for the best two-year mark in school history.
• Under Marlin's guidance, the Ragin' Cajuns have made five postseason appearances, including a berth in the 2014 NCAA Championships.
• He is 174-123 in his career at Louisiana and has taken two teams - Louisiana (2014) and Sam Houston State (2003, 2010) to the NCAA Championships.

WINNING THE CLOSE ONES
• During the Bob Marlin era, Louisiana is 52-47 in games decided by six points or less with at least nine wins recorded in both 2010-11 and 2013-14.
• The Cajuns were 3-1 in games decided by six points or less in 2017-18 and are 8-2 this season.
• In one-point contests, Louisiana's 73-72 victory at Southeastern Louisiana on Dec. 29 was its first since defeating ULM, 85-84, on Feb. 18, 2017.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are 11-4 overall in one-point games under head coach Bob Marlin and 55-49 overall in school history.

CAJUNS IN THE PROS
• Louisiana currently has one player - Elfrid Payton (New Orleans Pelicans) - competing in the National Basketball Association.
• The Ragin' Cajuns have had three players - Andrew Toney (8th pick, 1980, Philadelphia), Kevin Brooks (18th pick, 1991, Milwaukee) and Payton (10th pick, 2014, Philadelphia/Orlando) taken in the first round of the NBA Draft.
• Louisiana has had eight players compete on an NBA roster - Brooks, Payton, Toney, Larry Fogle (New York Knicks), Dwight "Bo" Lamar (Los Angeles Lakers), Shawn Long (Philadelphia), Fred Saunders (Phoenix, Boston, New Orleans Jazz) and Marvin Winkler (Milwaukee).

SUN BELT CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT TICKETS AVAILABLE
• Tickets booklets for the 2019 Sun Belt Conference Tournament, scheduled for March 13-17 at New Orleans' Lakefront Arena, are currently on sale on-line at RaginCajuns.com, using Account Manager, or by visiting the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• For more information, call the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 265-2357.

FOLLOW THE CAJUNS
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter (@RaginCajunsMBB), Facebook (RaginCajunsMBB) or Instagram (@RaginCajunsMBB) to stay up-to-date on all that is happening with Louisiana Men's Basketball.

@RaginCajunsMBB Game 32 Preview: vs. South Alabama

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Players Mentioned

Mason Aucoin

Frank Bartley

JaKeenan Gant

R.J. Gladney

P.J. Hardy

Jeremy Hayes

Jalen Johnson

Kobe Julien

Shawn Long

Malik Marquetti

Eli Mouton

Elfrid Payton

Cedric Russell

Marcus Stroman

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