MBB Game 23 Preview: at Georgia State

ATLANTA – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team opens a key weekend in Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday afternoon when it faces league co-leader Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena.

Tipoff is scheduled for 1:15 p.m. CST. The game will be streamed live on ESPN3. 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.

Louisiana (14-8, 4-5 SBC) plays its second of three straight games against the SBC leaders after dropping an 88-69 decision against Arkansas State on Monday at the Cajundome. The Ragin' Cajuns held an eight-point lead midway through the second half before Arkansas State made 16 of their final 18 shots from the floor.

Frank Bartley, eighth in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring at 15.5 points per game, scored 18 points to lead Louisiana with Jay Wright (14), Jerekius Davis (14) and Justin Miller (11) all scoring in double figures.

Wright, a native of Rincon, Ga., averages 14.5 points for the Ragin' Cajuns with Bryce Washington (13.9) and Miller (10.6) next in the scoring column. Washington, who was limited by Arkansas State to single-digits in both points and rebounds in a game for the first time this season, leads the Sun Belt Conference in both rebounds (11.5) and field goal percentage (.571).

GAME 23: Louisiana (14-8, 4-5 SBC) at Georgia State (14-7, 7-2 SBC)
Date / Time: February 4, 2017 / 1:15 p.m. CST
Site: Atlanta, Ga.
Arena: GSU Sports Arena (3,854)

TV: ESPN3
Radio: KHXT 107.9 FM / ESPN 1420 AM
Talent: Jay Walker (pxp)

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

Series: Georgia State leads, 8-5
At Lafayette: Tied, 3-3
At Atlanta: Georgia State leads, 4-1
At New Orleans: Tied, 1-1

THE COACHES
LOUISIANA
Head Coach: Bob Marlin (Mississippi State, 1981)
Career Record: 469-266 (24th season), Record at Louisiana: 121-100 (7th season)

GEORGIA STATE
Head Coach: Ron Hunter (Miami [Ohio], 1986)
Career Record: 391-278 (23rd season), Record at GSU: 117-68 (6th season)

STORY LINES
• Louisiana leads the Sun Belt Conference in scoring offense (82.0), rebound margin (+6.6) and offensive rebounds (13.6).

• The Ragin' Cajuns rank 16th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (13.59), is 25th in scoring offense (82.0), 22nd in free throw attempts (567) and 27th in rebound margin (+6.6).

• Jay Wright is currently ninth in school history with 327 assists. The senior is three shy of tying Carl Jordan (330, 1978-80) for eighth place in the Ragin' Cajuns record books.

• Louisiana is 4-3 this season in games decided by six points or less. In 2015-16, the Ragin' Cajuns were 0-6 and are overall 38-39 under Bob Marlin.

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

• Washington is second behind Purdue's Caleb Swanigan (19) for the national lead in double-doubles with 16. The junior is fifth in the nation in offensive rebounds per game (4.33) and is fifth nationally in rebounds per game (11.5).

• 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.

• The nine points and seven rebounds recorded by Bryce Washington against Arkansas State marked the first time this season he was held to single-digits in both categories in the same game.

SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
• League co-leader Georgia State is in the midst of a league-high, six-game winning streak that included a 108-71 win over Louisiana on Jan. 16 at the Cajundome.
• Indiana transfer Jeremy Hollowell is seventh in the Sun Belt Conference in scoring (15.7) with freshman guard D'Marcus Simonds averaging 12.5. Willie Clayton pulls down a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game for the Panthers.
• The Panthers have averaged a league-high 8.4 steals per game this season while averaging 79.3 points per game in SBC play.

UP NEXT
• Louisiana concludes its trip to the Peach State on Monday when it travels to Statesboro to face Georgia Southern in a 7 p.m. EST game at Hanner Fieldhouse. The Ragin' Cajuns will return to the Cajundome on Feb. 11 to face Troy in a 7:15 p.m. contest.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Frank Bartley

Jerekius Davis

Justin Miller

Bryce Washington

Jay Wright

Footer

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics