University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Players Mentioned
MBB Game 32 Preview: SBC Tournament Quarterfinals
3/12/2015 7:40:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Friday, March 13 • 5:00 p.m. (CST) • Lakefront Arena (10,000) • New Orleans, La.
Game Notes: Louisiana | Texas State
Live Stats
Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM Video: ESPN3
Rosters: Louisiana | Texas State
Statistics: Louisiana | Texas State
Ragin' Cajuns Twitter: @ULRaginCajuns | @Cajunbasketball
Opponents Twitter: @TXSTMBB
THE COACHES
Louisiana: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Career Record: 433-241 (22nd season) Record at Louisiana: 85-75 (5th season)
Texas State: Danny Kaspar (North Texas, 1978)
Career Record: 487-232 (24th season) Record at Texas State: 22-39 (2nd season)
FOR STARTERS
The No. 4-seeded Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns will open up the Sun Belt Conference Tournament on Friday, March 13 in the quarterfinals against No. 8 seed Texas State after the Bobcats pulled off the tournament's first upset in the opening round with a 68-62 win over No. 5 UT Arlington. Louisiana swept the season series between the teams this year and is 5-0 all-time against Texas State.
THE LAST TIME OUT
The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns put forth their best defensive performance of the season on roared past Texas State for a 64-42 win at the Cajundome on February 19.
The Cajuns put three players in double figures and closed the first half on a 21-6 run, getting a three from Jay Wright just before the halftime buzzer to go into the break up 10. From there Louisiana held the Bobcats to just 42 points, opponent all season, and just 32.1 percent shooting which was the lowest in SBC play.
Louisiana's defense also held Texas State without a three-point make on six tries, marking the first time since February 6, 2010 when UALR went to 0-for-13 from the arc, that it held an opponent without a triple.
Shawn Long hit 8-of-12 shots from the field and had a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds for the Cajuns, but was part of a balanced offensive attack. UL sank 45.3 percent of its shots, including eight threes from four different players, and had three players in double figures.
Wright, who dished out 10 assists the last time the teams met in San Marcos, doled out six more dimes to go with 13 points in 32 minutes. Meanwhile, Kasey Shepherd led a 30-point outpouring from the bench with 14 points, along with six rebounds, three assists and a steal.
UP NEXT
A Cajun win would set up a rematch of last year's SBC Tournament championship on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. against top-seeded Georgia State. The Cajuns split the season series with the Panthers this year, winning 84-80 in Lafayette and falling 68-58 in Atlanta.
• Saturday was the 13th straight game for the Cajuns to hit at least five or more three-point buckets, and the fifth straight game with at least eight. During their current six-game win streak, UL is 54-137 (.394) from beyond the three-point arc.
• Louisiana picked up its sixth straight win on Saturday at Arkansas State, its longest win streak of the season and the longest current win streak of any team in the Sun Belt Conference.
• The Cajuns went 22-for-23 (.957) on Thursday, their best foul shooting game of the season. It was also the best night at the foul line for the team since going a perfect 12-for-12 against San Francisco in 2011.
• The Cajuns turned the ball over just six times in the regular-season finale at Arkansas State, its lowest turnover total of the season and the fourth time with less than 10 turnovers this year.
• Shawn Long is one of only three players in the country averaging at least 17.0 ppg and 10.0 rpg, joined by Desharick Guidry (McNeese State) and Jerome Hill (Gardner-Webb).
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