UL freshman forward Jonathan Stove

 

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun men’s basketball team is back in action on Saturday afternoon, when coach Bob Marlin’s squad plays host to the UT-Arlington Mavericks in a key Sun Belt Conference tilt at the Cajundome.

Tip-off time is scheduled for 1 o'clock, and you can hear all the play-by-play action on our sister-station, Hot 107.9 and 1079ishot.com, beginning with the pregame show at 12:30 pm.

Remember too, ESPN1420, with the help of the Ragin’ Cajun cheerleaders, will distribute temporary tattoos to the first 3,000 fans who arrive at the Cajundome Saturday.

The temporary tattoo mirrors the UL red fleur-de-lis logo that head coach Bob Marlin sports on his left shoulder, minus the 2014 print in the middle.

Marlin fulfilled a promise to his team before this season when he received a tattoo to commemorate his team’s run to the NCAA Tournament last year.

The match-up will be the second game of a short two-game homestand for Louisiana, and will also be the front-end of a men’s/women’s doubleheader, with the UL women taking on UTA at 3:15 pm.

Louisiana, who is coming off of an 81-66 home win over Appalachian St. on Thursday, is 13-10, overall, and 7-5 in league play, while UT-Arlington, who fell to Troy, 55-54, back on January 31, hasn't played this month, and is currently 12-9, overall, and 6-5 in Sun Belt Conference play.

UL currently sits in fourth-place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, while UT-Arlington is one-half game back, in fifth-place.

The Cajuns are outscoring the opposition, 80.5/71.7, while out-shooting foes from the floor, 47.0%/43.0%, and holding down a 40.2/33.7 rebounding edge.

UL is paced by junior forward Shawn Long, who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, at 17.8 ppg, and 10.2 rpg, respectively, and senior forward Brian Williams, who is averaging 11.4 points, to go along with 4.0 rebounds a contest.

Louisiana is 9-2 at home this season, including a 4-2 conference mark at the Cajundome.

The Mavericks are out-scoring the opposition, 71.1/70.2, and out-shooting foes from the field, 43.5%/40.0%, while holding down a 37.5/36.8 rebounding advantage.

UT-Arlington is paced by senior guard Lonnie McClanahan, who is averaging 10.6 points and 3.3 rebounds-per-game, along with junior guard forward Johnny Hill, who is averaging 10.2 points, along with 4.4 rebounds a contest.

This will be the first of two game between the two squads this year, with the Cajuns traveling to Arlington, Texas to face the Mavericks on February 21.

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