Louisiana To Face South Alabama In SBC Quarterfinals

PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Men's Basketball team opens play in the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Championships on Saturday when it faces South Alabama in a quarterfinal matchup at Hartsell Arena on the Pensacola State College campus.

Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on Classic Rock 105.1 FM with coverage available on ESPN+. The winner between Louisiana (16-8) and South Alabama (17-10) will advance to Sunday's semifinals against the winner of Georgia State (14-5) and Arkansas State (11-12).

Louisiana, the No. 2 seed in the West Division, earned a first-round bye in the 12-team field after earning a split last week at Little Rock in the regular-season final series. The Ragin' Cajuns enter the SBC Championships as the No. 2 seed for the ninth time in school history and the first since 2011.

A win over South Alabama, the No. 3 seed in the East Division and 80-72 winner over ULM in Friday's first round, would give Louisiana its 14^th semifinal appearance since joining the league in 1992.

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.

GAME INFORMATION
LOUISIANA (16-8) vs. SOUTH ALABAMA (17-10)
Date / Time: March 6, 2021 / 5 p.m.
Site: Pensacola, Fla.
Arena: Hartsell Arena (1,000)

RADIO/TV
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Matt Schumacker (PxP), Ben Brust (color)
Radio: Classic Rock 105.1 FM
Talent: Jay Walker (PxP)

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

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Louisiana leads, 31-30
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 16-13
In Mobile: South Alabama leads, 14-12
Neutral: Tied, 3-3
Streak: South Alabama +3
Last Meeting: USA, 78-75 (2/13/20 at Mobile)

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Record at Louisiana: 204-151 (11th season), Career Record: 552-317 (28th season)

SOUTH ALABAMA
Head Coach: Richie Riley (Eastern Kentucky, 2005)
Record at USA: 38-28 (third season), Career Record: 73-56 (fifth season)

STORY LINES
• Louisiana enters the Sun Belt Conference Championships as a No. 2 seed for the ninth time in school history and the first since 2011.
• Louisiana is officially 27-23 overall in the Sun Belt Conference Championships trailing South Alabama (36) for the most wins among current members. Western Kentucky won 50 games in SBC postseason play from 1983-2014.
• Louisiana and South Alabama meet for the seventh time in the Sun Belt Conference Championships with USA holding an official 4-2 lead (a 2004 Louisiana victory was vacated).
• A win would send Louisiana to the Sun Belt Conference semifinals for the 14th time since 1992.
• Louisiana has lost three of its last four contests in the SBC Championships, including a pair of one-point decisions (South Alabama - 2019; Georgia Southern - 2020) on missed last-second attempts.
• With 119 career victories in Sun Belt Conference play, Louisiana head coach Bob Marlin is the all-time leader in league history after passing former Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis, Jr. in a 74-72 win over UT Arlington on Feb. 22.
• Marlin returns to coach a game at Pensacola State College's Hartsell Arena for the first time since 1995.
• From 1990-95, Marlin led then-Pensacola Junior College to a 123-35 overall record, a 73-10 mark at home and the 1993 National Junior College national championship.
• Louisiana is 9-4 this season in games decided by six points or less and is 66-58 overall under Marlin.
• Louisiana's nine wins by six points or less this season equals the most since posting a 9-4 record in 2013-14 - the last time the Ragin' Cajuns reached the NCAA Championships.
• The Ragin' Cajuns seven wins in the month of January equaled marks set in 2015-16 (7-2) and 2017-18 (7-0).

QUICK HITS
• Louisiana handed SBC West Division champion Texas State its only setbacks in league play during the 2020-21 season with all three wins coming by six points or less.
• Cedric Russell's 1,384 points scored in his career is 23rd in school history and 11 points shy of passing Todd Hill (1,394, 1990-93) for 22^nd place.
• With 261 made 3-pointers in his career Russell is 10 shy of tying Brad Boyd (271, 2000-03) for the all-time career lead in Ragin' Cajuns history.
• Louisiana is 0-5 in 2020-21 when allowing 10 or more 3-pointers per game.
• Louisiana's 82 points scored against Baylor in the season-opener on Nov. 28, 2020 were the most allowed by the Bears since Gonzaga scored 83 points in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Championships.
• Louisiana has made at least one 3-pointer in 514 consecutive games dating back to the 2005 season.
• Louisiana's 6-0 record in the month of December was its first in the month since posting a 5-0 mark in 1972-73.

MARLIN JOINS SHIPLEY, REINHARDT IN 200-WIN CLUB
• With a 62-60 victory at Texas State on Jan. 29, head coach Bob Marlin earned his 200th career victory at Louisiana to become the third coach in Ragin' Cajuns history to reach the 200-win plateau.
• Now with 204 career victories at Louisiana, Marlin trails legendary coaches Beryl Shipley (293) and J.C. "Dutch" Reinhardt (238) on the school's all-time list.

MAKING THE FREEBIES
• Three of the top four season marks from the free throw line in Ragin' Cajuns history have come in the past four seasons under head coach Bob Marlin.
• Louisiana converted on 74.3 percent (507-of-682) of its attempts from the free throw line last season to mark the third-best season percentage in school history.
• The 2017-18 team converted on 76.1 percent (590-of-775) of its attempts from the line to rank second all-time with the 2018-19 squad recording the now fourth-best mark (74.2), making 527-of-710 attempts.
• Through 24 games during the 2020-21 season, Louisiana is converting on 70.1 percent (309-of-441) of its attempts, including a school-record 29 consecutive free throws made that dated back to the second half of the Jan. 1 game against Texas State.
• Louisiana has shot better than 70 percent from the free throw line for four consecutive seasons - the longest stretch since moving to Division I in 1971-72.

MARLIN MAKES SBC HISTORY
• With Louisiana's 74-72 win over UT Arlington on Feb. 22, head coach Bob Marlin earned his 118^th career Sun Belt Conference victory and moved past fellow Mississippi State alum and former Middle Tennessee coach Kermit Davis, Jr., as the league's all-time leader.
• Marlin, who has now posted a record of 119-82 in SBC games, entered the 2020-21 season fourth Sun Belt Conference history with 109 career wins in league play.
• Marlin, in his 11th year as head coach at Louisiana, is one of six coaches in league history with 100+ wins.
• Below is the list of Sun Belt Conference coaches with 100 league victories:

1. Bob Marlin (Louisiana) - 119
2. Kermit Davis, Jr. (Middle Tennessee) - 117
3. Ronnie Arrow (South Alabama) - 112
4. Gene Bartow (UAB) - 111
5. Keith Richard (ULM) - 106
6. Dickey Nutt (Arkansas State) - 102

Louisiana To Face South Alabama In SBC Quarterfinals

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Russell

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