MBB Game 6 Preview: McNeese State

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team returns to action on Wednesday when it battles in-state rival McNeese State in a non-conference game at the Cajundome.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on KHXT 107.9-FM and ESPN 1420-AM as well as on the Internet at RaginCajuns.com.

Louisiana (2-3) and McNeese State (1-5) will meet for the 91st time on the hardwood as each team has defended its home court during the last seven meetings. The McNeese State series is the second-longest in Ragin' Cajuns basketball history behind Louisiana Tech (126) and ahead of Lamar (83), Northwestern State (73), Louisiana College (73), ULM (72) and Arkansas State (70).

GAME INFORMATION
Date / Time: Dec. 9, 2015 / 7 p.m. CT
Site: Lafayette, La.
Arena: Cajundome (11,500)

TV/Web: None
Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM / ESPN 1420 AM
Talent: Jay Walker (PBP)
Video: RaginCajuns.com
Live Stats: RaginCajuns.com
Twitter Updates: @Cajunbasketball

Series: Louisiana leads, 55-35
In Lafayette: UL leads 35-13
In Lake Charles: McNeese leads, 22-19

STORY LINES
• The Ragin' Cajuns are averaging 107.0 points per game in their two games this season at the Cajundome. The Ragin' Cajuns can match the 1990-91 team with consecutive 100-point games at home.

• Louisiana leads the Sun Belt Conference in scoring, field goal percentage (.488) and rebounding margin (+11.4), while ranking fourth in the league in assists (13.4).

THE SERIES
• The Ragin' Cajuns lead the all-time series against their I-10 rivals, 55-35, and have won the last three meetings in Lafayette. Each team has protected its home court during the last seven meetings in the series with McNeese State winning four times since the 2008-09 season.

THE OPPONENT
• McNeese State opened the season with an 11-point loss at nationally-ranked LSU to start the season before falling to Louisiana College and Oklahoma. After a win over Dillard, the Cowboys have dropped their last two games against Texas State and Central Michigan by a combined four points.

UP NEXT
• Louisiana will open a three-game road trip over a six-day period beginning Saturday (Dec. 12) when the Ragin' Cajuns travel to Ruston to face Louisiana Tech in a noon contest at the Thomas Assembly Center. Louisiana will then head to the West Coast for games at UCLA (Dec. 15) and Pepperdine (Dec. 18).

• The Louisiana Tech game will be broadcast nationally on the American Sports Network and regionally on Cox Sports Television.

QUICK HITS
• Shawn Long is the NCAA Division I active leader in both double-doubles (55) and rebounds (1,092). He ranks second among active NCAA Division I players in FG (676) and rebound average (10.3), fourth in points (1,785) and seventh in blocked shots (221).

• Louisiana leads the Sun Belt Conference, and is tied for fourth among Division I programs, in scoring averaging 90.8 points per game.

• Long is one of two players in the Sun Belt Conference (Kevin Hervey, UTA) currently averaging a double-double on the season.

• The Ragin' Cajuns +11.4 rebounding margin paces the Sun Belt Conference and is 19th among Division I programs.

• Long enters Wednesday's game tied with former UNO letterwinner Michael McDonald for sixth-place in Sun Belt history with 221 blocks. The senior is 15th in SBC history in scoring with 1,795 points and can move past former South Alabama standout Ed Rains (1,801) and Old Dominion's Chris Gatling (1,811) into 13th place with 17 points.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Shawn Long

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics