Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun men’s basketball team returns to the hardwood on Friday, when coach Bob Marlin’s squad takes on the Texas St. Bobcats in the quarterfinal round of the Sun Belt Conference Championships at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, La..

Tip-off time is scheduled for 5 o'clock, and you can hear all the play-by-play action on our sister-station, Hot 107.9 FM & 1079ishot.com, beginning with the pregame show at 4:30 pm.

The Cajuns, who drew an opening round bye in the tournament, is the four-seed, while the Bobcats are the #8-seed.

The winner will advance to take on top-seeded Georgia St. in semifinal play on Satrday afternoon at 1 pm.

Louisiana, who is coming off of a 81-57 road win over Arkansas St. last Saturday, their sixth-consecutive victory, is 19-12 on the season, while Texas St., a 68-62 winner over UT-Arlington in opening run play in the tournament on Thursday night, is currently 14-16.

The Cajuns are outscoring the opposition, 78.1/69.9, while out-shooting foes from the floor, 46.0%/42.5%, while holding down a 40.0/33.4 rebounding edge.

UL is paced by junior forward Shawn Long, who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, at 17.0 ppg, and 10.3 rpg, respectively, and senior forward Brian Williams, who is averaging 10.1 points, to go along with 3.7 rebounds a contest.

The Bobcats are out-scoring the opposition, 61.9/60.0, while being out-shot by foes from the field, 41.6%/40.6%, and being out-rebounded, 34./32.5.

Texas St. is paced by junior forward Emani Gant, who is averaging 12.6 points and 7.0 rebounds-per-game, along with junior forward Cameron Naylor, who is averaging 8.1 points, to go along with 5.0 rebounds a contest.

Louisiana won both of the regular seasons match-ups, defeating Texas St., 72-63, in San Marcos, Texas, and 64-42 in Lafayette.

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