Cajuns Entertain Mountaineers – Inside The Numbers

UL junior forward Shawn Long

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun men’s basketball team is back in action on Thursday evening, when coach Bob Marlin’s squad plays host to the Appalachian St. Mountaineers in a key Sun Belt Conference tilt at the Cajundome.

Tip-off time is scheduled for 7:15 pm, and you can hear all the play-by-play action on ESPN 1420 and espn1420.com, along with Hot 107.9 and 1079ishot.com, beginning with the pregame show at 6:45 pm.

The game will mark the first game of a short two-game homestand for Louisiana, and will also be the back-end of a day/night, women’s/men’s doubleheader, with the UL women taking on Appalachian St. at 5 pm.

Louisiana, who is coming off of a 72-53 road win to Texas St. on Saturday, is 12-10, overall, and 6-5 in league play, while Appalachian St., who fell to Georgia Southern, 83-46, last Thursday, has won four of their last five, and is currently 8-11, overall, and 5-5 in Sun Belt Conference play.

UL currently sits in a tie with UTA for fourth-place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, while Appalachian St. is one-half game back, in sixth-place.

The Cajuns are outscoring the opposition, 80.5/72.0, while out-shooting foes from the floor, 46.9%/43.2%, and holding down a 40.2/33.8 rebounding edge.

UL is paced by junior forward Shawn Long, who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, at 17.5 ppg, and 10.0 rpg, respectively, and senior forward Brian Williams, who is averaging 11.4 points, to go along with 4.0 rebounds a contest.

Louisiana is 8-2 at home this season, including a 3-2 conference mark at the Cajundome.

The Mountaineers are being out-scored by the opposition, 70.0/63.4, and out-shot by foes from the field, 45.2%/38.9%, while holding down a 36.4/34.9 rebounding advantage.

Appalachian St. is paced by junior guard Frank Eaves, who is averaging 17.6 points and 4.1 rebounds-per-game, along with senior forward Tommy Spagnolo, who is averaging 10.7 points, along with 7.4 rebounds a contest.

Louisiana will be going after the two-game season sweep, after defeating Appalachian St., 80-64, back on January 5 in Boone, North Carolina.