MBB Game 22 Preview: Arkansas State

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team wraps up a two-game homestand on Monday when it faces Sun Belt Conference rival Arkansas State at the Cajundome.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game can be heard in the Lafayette area on both KHXT 107.9-FM and ESPN 1420 AM, along with on the internet via the Radio Pup app.

Fans can take advantage of a "Buy One, Get One Free," ticket promotion by the Cajundome Box Office for the game. Fans can purchase tickets in person at the Cajundome Box Office or call (337) 265-2357 for details.

The UL Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be collecting shoes starting at 6 p.m. before and will continue until after the start of the men's game. All shoes collected will be donated to Soles 4 Souls, a not-for-profit organization that distributes shoes to people around the world to fight poverty. Fans can donate any type of gently used shoes.

During halftime of the game, all Ragin' Cajuns student-athletes who earned a 3.0 grade point average will be recognized during a special halftime ceremony that will include University President Dr. Joseph Savoie.

Louisiana (14-7, 4-4 SBC) went on a 26-9 run and withstood a furious rally in the final four minutes to defeat defending SBC champion Little Rock, 88-82, on Saturday at the Cajundome. Frank Bartley scored 20 points to lead six players in double figures as the Ragin' Cajuns shot 62 percent from the floor and swept the season-series from the Trojans.

Jerekius Davis scored a career-high 17 points in his first career start for Louisiana while Bryce Washington added 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Ragin' Cajuns. Freshman Justin Miller had 12 points, nine rebounds and seven assists for Louisiana with Jay Wright scoring all 12 points in the second half and Johnathan Stove coming off the bench to add 10.

Louisiana will look to split the season-series with Arkansas State (15-6, 6-2 SBC) after the Red Wolves earned a 74-71 decision on New Year's Eve in Jonesboro. Junior college transfer Rashad Lindsey scored a career-high 27 points to lead three players in double figures for Arkansas State with Donte Thomas scoring 12 points and Devin Carter 10.

Arkansas State has won its last four games, including a 73-63 win at ULM on Saturday.

GAME 22: Louisiana (14-7, 4-4 SBC) vs. Arkansas State (15-6, 6-2 SBC)
Date / Time: January 30, 2017 / 7 p.m.
Site: Lafayette, La.
Arena: Cajundome (12,362)

Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM / ESPN 1420 AM
Talent: Jay Walker (pxp)

Video: RaginCajuns.com
Live Stats: RaginCajuns.com
Twitter Updates: @RaginCajunsMBB

Series: Louisiana leads, 49-25
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 28-8
At Jonesboro: Louisiana leads, 19-17
At Neutral Sites: Louisiana leads, 2-0

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Career Record: 469-265 (24th season), Record at Louisiana: 121-99 (7th season)

ARKANSAS STATE
Head Coach: Grant McCasland (Baylor, 1999)
Career Record: 15-6 (first season), Record at A-State: Same

STORY LINES
• Louisiana leads the Sun Belt Conference in scoring offense (82.7), rebound margin (+6.7) and offensive rebounds (13.8).

• The Ragin' Cajuns rank 13th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (13.76), is 23rd in scoring offense (82.7), 22nd in free throw attempts (546) and 27th in rebound margin (+6.7).

• Jay Wright is currently ninth in school history with 323 assists. The senior is seven shy of tying Carl Jordan (330, 1978-80) for eighth place in the Ragin' Cajuns record books.

QUICK HITS
• Bryce Washington has recorded 16 of his 19 career double-doubles this season.

• Washington is second behind Purdue's Caleb Swanigan for the national lead in double-doubles with 16. The junior is fourth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.33) and is fifth nationally in rebounds per game (11.7).

• Frank Bartley has produced six 20-point games this season with Jay Wright recording 20 or more points five times in 2016-17.

• Louisiana posted season-highs in both 3-point field goal percentage (.538) and free throw percentage (.870) in its win at Texas State. The Ragin' Cajuns 48 field goal attempts and 13 3-point field goal tries marked season-lows.

• Bryce Washington's 21-rebound performance against ULM on Jan. 7 was tied with Reginald Poole (at Hawai'i, 12/27/98), Dion Brown (vs. McNeese State, 2/6/82) and Roy Ebron (vs. UT Arlington, 1/13/73) for the eighth-best total in school history.

SCOUTING THE RED WOLVES
• Arkansas State, under first-year coach Grant McCasland, is off to its best 21-game start since the 1997-98 season. The Red Wolves have 15 wins before February for only the second time in the Division I era, joining the 1988-89 team that went 16-4.

• A-State is 6-0 in games decided by six or fewer points this season.

• Senior Devin Carter averaged 16.3 points to lead A-State with Deven Simms (12.7) and Rashad Lindsey (10.1) averaging in double figures.

UP NEXT
• Louisiana heads to the state of Georgia for two games beginning Saturday (Feb. 4) at Georgia State in a 1:15 p.m. CST contest before heading to Statesboro to face Georgia Southern on Monday (Feb. 6) in a 6 p.m. game. Both games can be seen on ESPN3.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Frank Bartley

Jerekius Davis

Justin Miller

Johnathan Stove

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright

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