University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Cajuns Open Season At Home Against Louisiana College
11/8/2013 3:47:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Contact: Brian McCann
MBK Game Notes (PDF)
Game 1
Louisiana College (8-13) at Louisiana (13-20)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m. CST
Site: Cajundome (11,550) Lafayette, Louisiana
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live, Streaming available on the internet via RaginCajuns.com.
Series: Louisiana leads, 50-20
Last M'tg: Louisiana 91, Louisiana College 66 (11/15/10, Lafayette, La.)
Tickets: $8, $10 & $15
Louisiana season tickets available at RaginCajuns.com and by calling the Cajundome (337) 265-2357.
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 43-51 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 268-182 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 391-217 (21st year)
SETTING THE SCENE: After five months of conditioning and practice that included a four-game, 11-day tour of Spain in August, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team will open the 2013-14 season against Louisiana College on Saturday, Nov. 9 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Cajundome. The game will mark the beginning of the 101st season of basketball at Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns played their only exhibition game of the preseason on Monday, handing William Carey a 75-60 setback. This will be the 71st meeting between the two Louisiana schools with the Ragin' Cajuns owning a 50-20 series lead that includes 20 straight victories over the since 1964.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana returns all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 13-20 and fourth-year head coach Bob Marlin feels confident that the Cajuns are on a path to return to national prominence. The team will be centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (15.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.5 apg) and forward Shawn Long (15.5, 10.2), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long makes the move from center to power forward, his natural position, with the newcomers J.J. Davenport, a junior who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshman Vieux Kande expected to see the majority of minutes at center. Elridge Moore (4.8, 3.7), who started as an undersized power forward last season, will move to small forward. Bryant Mbamalu (13.8, 3.7), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, is out indefinitely with a broken foot suffered in September. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (4.8, 1.6), who is returning after missing most of last season with a broken foot, is expected to take over. Sophomore guards Steve Wronkoski (5.7, 2.5) and Kasey Shephard (3.4, 1.2) will each see time off the bench this year with a trio of newcomers, junior Xavian Rimmer, and freshmen Hayward Register (G) and Luka Kamber (F) vying for time. Marlin will utilize the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. The Cajuns use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.
RAGIN' CAJUNS START THE NEXT 100 SEASONS: The Ragin' Cajuns will tip off the 101st season of basketball on Saturday when they host Louisiana College at 2:00 p.m. in the Cajundome. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the year with a 1,309-1,004 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 99 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight Louisiana players have earned All-America honors with 96 being named all-conference.
REBOUNDERS CLUB TO MEET: The second meeting of the Rebounders Club, a group of supporters of the Ragin' Cajuns basketball team, will be held on Wednesday (Nov. 14) beginning at 12:00 noon at the Petroleum Club (111 Heymann). Information on becoming a Rebounds Club member is available by contacting Karren Hays at (337) 988-4557.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100% both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 GPA for the team. It was the fifth time in six semesters that the team had a GPA of better than 2.50, which had never been done before. The last five semesters account for four of the top seven terms for the basketball team during that time.
SIX GAMES TO BE TELEVISED: The Ragin' Cajuns will garner a little more attention nationally this year as six games will be televised during the regular season. The Nov. 12 McNeese State game will be televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network. The Sun Belt Network will pick up the home games vs. Texas State (Jan. 13) and South Alabama (March 2) and the road meeting with Georgia State (Feb. 22). The Nov. 17 contest at Baylor will be featured on Fox Sports Southwest while the Dec. 7 game at defending national champion Louisville will be shown on ESPN3. In addition, the home games vs. WKU (Jan. 25) and Arkansas State (Feb. 15) could both be picked up by one of the ESPN channels.
HOW ELFRID SPENT HIS SUMMER: Elfrid Payton had quite a summer, traveling more than 40,000 miles to play 20 basketball games in three different countries as part of three different teams. The journey started with an eight-game, 18-day (May 11-28) tour of the Far East and China with Reach USA, during which he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals a game in helping Reach USA to a 4-2-1 record. After returning to the states, Payton headed to Colorado Springs, Colo. where he not only earned a spot on the USA Basketball U19 team for the FIBA World Championship (June 26-July 7) in Prague, Czech Republic, but a starting spot as well. Payton helped lead Team USA to a 9-0 record and the gold medal. One month later, Payton travelled with his Cajuns teammates to Spain, winning all four games during a goodwill tour.
LONG & PAYTON NAMED TO ALL-SBC SQUAD: Junior guard Elfrid Payton and sophomore forward Shawn Long were rewarded for their hard work when the duo were two of five players named to the 2013-14 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first team in a balloting conducted of the league's head coaches. South Alabama's Augustin Rubit, the only senior on the first team, earned preseason player of the year honors, while Georgia State's R.J. Hunter and WKU's T.J. Price were the other first team honorees. Payton averaged 15.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last year, leading the league in both assists (181) and steals (80). Long, the reigning SBC Freshman of the Year, averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, leading all freshman nationally in rebounding.
LOUISIANA TABBED FOR 4TH IN SBC POLL: With all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen back this season, the Ragin' Cajuns earned some respect from the Sun Belt Coaches when they were picked to finish in a fourth place tie with league newcomer Georgia State when the Sun Belt announced its annual preseason coaches poll on Oct. 30. Just 18 votes separated the top five teams with two-time tournament champion WKU getting the top nod with 91 points, including half of the 10 first place votes. South Alabama was second with 78 points, including two first place votes. Arkansas State was tabbed third with 74 points, one point ahead of both Louisiana (1 first place vote) and Georgia State (2), who each garnered 73 votes.
2013-14 SBC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Western Kentucky (5 1st place) 91
2. South Alabama (2) 78
3. Arkansas State 74
T-4. Louisiana (1) 73
T-4. Georgia State (2) 73
6. UALR 48
7. UT Arlington 36
8. Texas State 34
9. Troy 26
10. ULM 17
JERRY FLAKE TO BE HONORED: Another number will be raised to the Cajundome rafters during the preseason when Jerry Flake (1965-69) has his number honored prior to the Houston game on Dec. 14. Almost four decades after completing his career, Flake still ranks fifth in school history with 2,058 career points, averaging 19.2 points a game over the course of his career. Flake's number 20 will become the fifth retired jerseys, joining Dwight "Bo" Lamar's No. 10, the No. 14 worn by Marvin Winkler, Andrew Toney's No. 24 and the No. 12 worn by Dean Church, which was retired in February, 2012.
CAJUNS TRIO SEEKS OUT 1,000 POINT MARK: The Cajuns enter the season with three players capable of reaching the 1,000 point marks for their career this season, a figure accomplished by 39 Louisiana players during their careers. Senior Bryant Mbamalu's quest for 1,000 will have to wait until he returns from a foot injury, but when he does, he will have just 206 points to go. He enters the year with 794 points. Junior Elfrid Payton begins the year with 753 points. At his 15.9 pace from last year, he will need 15 games to reach 1,000. Sophomore Shawn Long scored 511 points last year and will need to equal his 15.5 points per game from last year to accomplish the fete.
LONG MAINTAINS FRESHMAN REBOUNDING LEAD: With 10 or more rebounds in 11 of his last 15 games, Shawn Long finished the 2012-13 season as the top freshman rebounder in the country. Long grabbed 337 rebounds in 33 games (10.2rpg) to rank ahead of Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.6). Long was 12th in rebounding overall.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: With 18 double-doubles in 33 games last year, Shawn Long finished 2012-13 ranked sixth nationally in the category. Bucknell's Mike Muscala led the nation with 22 with UNC-Wilmington's Keith Rendleman and Towson's Jerrelle Benimon having 20 and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Tulane's Josh Davis ranked fourth with 19. Long has had a double-double in 10 of the last 15 games, giving him 10 double-doubles in 20 league games last season.
CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns was at its best late in the game as Louisiana went 142-for-196 (.724) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (15-16, .938), Shawn Long (21-28, .750) and Steven Wronkoski (14-19, .737) led the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .776 shooter (45-58), was 24-for-29 last year (.828). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
GRIDER ENTERS HALL OF FAME: Cajun basketball alumnus Sydney Grider (1988-90) was one of four Louisiana athletic alumni to be inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame. Grider was joined by baseball standout Gene Bacque (1956-57), softball star Lynn Britton (1993-96) and football star Andy Martin (1979-82), bringing the number of Ragin' Cajuns alumni to 142. Grider, the most effective three-point shooter in school history, earned back-to-back first-team All-American South Conference honors as a junior and senior, averaging 23.5 points as a junior and leading the American South as a senior with a 25.5 average. In that senior year he hit 131-of-321 three-point tries, setting Cajun school records in both categories.
NEXT UP: The Ragin' Cajuns will remain at home on Tuesday (Nov. 12) when the Cajuns host McNeese State at 7:05 p.m.in the Cajundome. After that, Louisiana goes on the road to play six of its next seven games.
MBK Game Notes (PDF)
Game 1
Louisiana College (8-13) at Louisiana (13-20)
Date: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2013
Time: 2:00 p.m. CST
Site: Cajundome (11,550) Lafayette, Louisiana
Radio: KPEL (1420 AM) & KHXT (107.9 FM) (Jay Walker)
TV: None Live, Streaming available on the internet via RaginCajuns.com.
Series: Louisiana leads, 50-20
Last M'tg: Louisiana 91, Louisiana College 66 (11/15/10, Lafayette, La.)
Tickets: $8, $10 & $15
Louisiana season tickets available at RaginCajuns.com and by calling the Cajundome (337) 265-2357.
LOUISIANA
BOB MARLIN (Mississippi State '81)
At Louisiana: 43-51 (4th year)
4-Year Overall: 268-182 (16th year)
All Collegiate: 391-217 (21st year)
SETTING THE SCENE: After five months of conditioning and practice that included a four-game, 11-day tour of Spain in August, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team will open the 2013-14 season against Louisiana College on Saturday, Nov. 9 beginning at 2:00 p.m. in the Cajundome. The game will mark the beginning of the 101st season of basketball at Louisiana. The Ragin' Cajuns played their only exhibition game of the preseason on Monday, handing William Carey a 75-60 setback. This will be the 71st meeting between the two Louisiana schools with the Ragin' Cajuns owning a 50-20 series lead that includes 20 straight victories over the since 1964.
PREVIEWING LOUISIANA: Louisiana returns all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen from last year's squad that went 13-20 and fourth-year head coach Bob Marlin feels confident that the Cajuns are on a path to return to national prominence. The team will be centered around the duo of point guard Elfrid Payton (15.9 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.5 apg) and forward Shawn Long (15.5, 10.2), both of whom were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt first team this year. Long makes the move from center to power forward, his natural position, with the newcomers J.J. Davenport, a junior who played the last two seasons at New Mexico Junior College, and freshman Vieux Kande expected to see the majority of minutes at center. Elridge Moore (4.8, 3.7), who started as an undersized power forward last season, will move to small forward. Bryant Mbamalu (13.8, 3.7), who started 26 games as a wing guard last season, is out indefinitely with a broken foot suffered in September. With Mbamalu out, junior Kevin Brown (4.8, 1.6), who is returning after missing most of last season with a broken foot, is expected to take over. Sophomore guards Steve Wronkoski (5.7, 2.5) and Kasey Shephard (3.4, 1.2) will each see time off the bench this year with a trio of newcomers, junior Xavian Rimmer, and freshmen Hayward Register (G) and Luka Kamber (F) vying for time. Marlin will utilize the depth and quickness by forcing an up-tempo game at both ends of the court by applying more defensive pressure. The Cajuns use their quickness and outside shooting ability to create a balanced offense, forcing opponents to cover the entire court.
RAGIN' CAJUNS START THE NEXT 100 SEASONS: The Ragin' Cajuns will tip off the 101st season of basketball on Saturday when they host Louisiana College at 2:00 p.m. in the Cajundome. The first season was in 1911-12 when the Cajuns posted a 4-1 record. Louisiana has gone on to win 20 or more games 21 times since, entering the year with a 1,309-1,004 overall record. Louisiana did not have a team in either 1973-74 or 1974-75 because of NCAA sanctions. In the first 99 seasons, the Cajuns have advanced to postseason play 18 times, including 10 NCAA Tournament appearances, winning 16 conference titles. Eight Louisiana players have earned All-America honors with 96 being named all-conference.
REBOUNDERS CLUB TO MEET: The second meeting of the Rebounders Club, a group of supporters of the Ragin' Cajuns basketball team, will be held on Wednesday (Nov. 14) beginning at 12:00 noon at the Petroleum Club (111 Heymann). Information on becoming a Rebounds Club member is available by contacting Karren Hays at (337) 988-4557.
MAKING THE GRADE: One thing that head coach Bob Marlin has emphasized in his three seasons at Louisiana is the necessity that his players give 100% both on and off the court. This demand has led to positive results in the classroom. During the spring 2013 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns set a program record with a 2.904 GPA for the team. It was the fifth time in six semesters that the team had a GPA of better than 2.50, which had never been done before. The last five semesters account for four of the top seven terms for the basketball team during that time.
SIX GAMES TO BE TELEVISED: The Ragin' Cajuns will garner a little more attention nationally this year as six games will be televised during the regular season. The Nov. 12 McNeese State game will be televised throughout Louisiana by the Ragin' Cajuns Network. The Sun Belt Network will pick up the home games vs. Texas State (Jan. 13) and South Alabama (March 2) and the road meeting with Georgia State (Feb. 22). The Nov. 17 contest at Baylor will be featured on Fox Sports Southwest while the Dec. 7 game at defending national champion Louisville will be shown on ESPN3. In addition, the home games vs. WKU (Jan. 25) and Arkansas State (Feb. 15) could both be picked up by one of the ESPN channels.
HOW ELFRID SPENT HIS SUMMER: Elfrid Payton had quite a summer, traveling more than 40,000 miles to play 20 basketball games in three different countries as part of three different teams. The journey started with an eight-game, 18-day (May 11-28) tour of the Far East and China with Reach USA, during which he averaged 21.7 points, 7.1 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 3.0 steals a game in helping Reach USA to a 4-2-1 record. After returning to the states, Payton headed to Colorado Springs, Colo. where he not only earned a spot on the USA Basketball U19 team for the FIBA World Championship (June 26-July 7) in Prague, Czech Republic, but a starting spot as well. Payton helped lead Team USA to a 9-0 record and the gold medal. One month later, Payton travelled with his Cajuns teammates to Spain, winning all four games during a goodwill tour.
LONG & PAYTON NAMED TO ALL-SBC SQUAD: Junior guard Elfrid Payton and sophomore forward Shawn Long were rewarded for their hard work when the duo were two of five players named to the 2013-14 Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference first team in a balloting conducted of the league's head coaches. South Alabama's Augustin Rubit, the only senior on the first team, earned preseason player of the year honors, while Georgia State's R.J. Hunter and WKU's T.J. Price were the other first team honorees. Payton averaged 15.9 points and 5.6 rebounds last year, leading the league in both assists (181) and steals (80). Long, the reigning SBC Freshman of the Year, averaged 15.5 points and 10.2 rebounds, leading all freshman nationally in rebounding.
LOUISIANA TABBED FOR 4TH IN SBC POLL: With all five starters and a total of 10 lettermen back this season, the Ragin' Cajuns earned some respect from the Sun Belt Coaches when they were picked to finish in a fourth place tie with league newcomer Georgia State when the Sun Belt announced its annual preseason coaches poll on Oct. 30. Just 18 votes separated the top five teams with two-time tournament champion WKU getting the top nod with 91 points, including half of the 10 first place votes. South Alabama was second with 78 points, including two first place votes. Arkansas State was tabbed third with 74 points, one point ahead of both Louisiana (1 first place vote) and Georgia State (2), who each garnered 73 votes.
2013-14 SBC Preseason Coaches Poll
1. Western Kentucky (5 1st place) 91
2. South Alabama (2) 78
3. Arkansas State 74
T-4. Louisiana (1) 73
T-4. Georgia State (2) 73
6. UALR 48
7. UT Arlington 36
8. Texas State 34
9. Troy 26
10. ULM 17
JERRY FLAKE TO BE HONORED: Another number will be raised to the Cajundome rafters during the preseason when Jerry Flake (1965-69) has his number honored prior to the Houston game on Dec. 14. Almost four decades after completing his career, Flake still ranks fifth in school history with 2,058 career points, averaging 19.2 points a game over the course of his career. Flake's number 20 will become the fifth retired jerseys, joining Dwight "Bo" Lamar's No. 10, the No. 14 worn by Marvin Winkler, Andrew Toney's No. 24 and the No. 12 worn by Dean Church, which was retired in February, 2012.
CAJUNS TRIO SEEKS OUT 1,000 POINT MARK: The Cajuns enter the season with three players capable of reaching the 1,000 point marks for their career this season, a figure accomplished by 39 Louisiana players during their careers. Senior Bryant Mbamalu's quest for 1,000 will have to wait until he returns from a foot injury, but when he does, he will have just 206 points to go. He enters the year with 794 points. Junior Elfrid Payton begins the year with 753 points. At his 15.9 pace from last year, he will need 15 games to reach 1,000. Sophomore Shawn Long scored 511 points last year and will need to equal his 15.5 points per game from last year to accomplish the fete.
LONG MAINTAINS FRESHMAN REBOUNDING LEAD: With 10 or more rebounds in 11 of his last 15 games, Shawn Long finished the 2012-13 season as the top freshman rebounder in the country. Long grabbed 337 rebounds in 33 games (10.2rpg) to rank ahead of Binghamton's Jordan Reed (9.6). Long was 12th in rebounding overall.
LONG IS DOUBLE-DOUBLE TROUBLE: With 18 double-doubles in 33 games last year, Shawn Long finished 2012-13 ranked sixth nationally in the category. Bucknell's Mike Muscala led the nation with 22 with UNC-Wilmington's Keith Rendleman and Towson's Jerrelle Benimon having 20 and Notre Dame's Jack Cooley and Tulane's Josh Davis ranked fourth with 19. Long has had a double-double in 10 of the last 15 games, giving him 10 double-doubles in 20 league games last season.
CAJUNS BENEFIT FROM LATE FREE THROW SHOOTING: The free throw shooting by the Cajuns was at its best late in the game as Louisiana went 142-for-196 (.724) from the line in the final 5:00 minutes and overtime. Alan-Michael Thompson (15-16, .938), Shawn Long (21-28, .750) and Steven Wronkoski (14-19, .737) led the team while Bryant Mbamalu, a career .776 shooter (45-58), was 24-for-29 last year (.828). That is a considerable improvement from the .617 (121-196) that the Cajuns shot during the 2011-12 season.
GRIDER ENTERS HALL OF FAME: Cajun basketball alumnus Sydney Grider (1988-90) was one of four Louisiana athletic alumni to be inducted into the Louisiana Athletic Hall of Fame. Grider was joined by baseball standout Gene Bacque (1956-57), softball star Lynn Britton (1993-96) and football star Andy Martin (1979-82), bringing the number of Ragin' Cajuns alumni to 142. Grider, the most effective three-point shooter in school history, earned back-to-back first-team All-American South Conference honors as a junior and senior, averaging 23.5 points as a junior and leading the American South as a senior with a 25.5 average. In that senior year he hit 131-of-321 three-point tries, setting Cajun school records in both categories.
NEXT UP: The Ragin' Cajuns will remain at home on Tuesday (Nov. 12) when the Cajuns host McNeese State at 7:05 p.m.in the Cajundome. After that, Louisiana goes on the road to play six of its next seven games.
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