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IU basketball: Louisiana at Indiana game day essentials

November 21, 2021 Mike Schumann IUBB 0

Game Day Essentials

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (3-0) at Indiana Hoosiers (3-0)

  • Tip Time: Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Eastern
  • Location: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Indiana
  • Television: Big Ten Network (Jeff Levering, Stephen Bardo)
  • Stream:  Fox Sports Live
  • Radio:  IU Radio Network
  • Point Spread: Indiana is around a 12-point favorite
  • KenPom Projected Score:  No. 36 Indiana 78, No. 161 Louisiana 63
  • Series: First meeting

Indiana should get a really good test from a long, fast and aggressive mid-major tonight.  Here is more background on the Ragin’ Cajuns.

LOUISIANA BACKGROUND AND STORYLINES

» Thus far Louisiana has faced two non-Division One foes along with KenPom No. 237 Southern Miss, who they beat 66-45 on the road.

» At 3-0, Louisiana is off to its best start since the 95-96 season. The Ragin’ Cajuns have not begun a season with four straight wins since the 89-90 season when they notched eight consecutive victories and finished the year 20-9.

» According to KenPom, the Ragin’ Cajuns rank 23rd in the nation and first in the Sun Belt in adjusted tempo this season, earning 73.9 possessions per game.

» No doubt bolstered by low-quality opponents, Louisiana is No. 1 nationally at defensive turnover rate (32.5 percent) and No. 4 in effective field goal percentage defense (36.5 percent) according to KenPom.

» Louisiana ranks second in the Sun Belt in scoring defense, surrendering just 54.7 points per game.

» Sunday will mark the first all-time meeting between the two programs. Louisiana last faced a member of the BIG 10 Conference on Nov. 20, 2017, when it defeated Iowa 80-71 in the Cayman Islands Classic.

» The Ragin’ Cajuns are shooting 37.2 percent from beyond the arc this season while holding their opponents to just 24.5 percent.

» Not your typical mid-major Louisiana has good length and is tied for 29th in the nation and ranks first in the Sun Belt with a 45.3 rebounds-per-game average.

» Individually, Louisiana’s pairing of Theo Akwuba (8.0) and Jordan Brown (7.3) are ranked third and fifth, respectively, in the Sun Belt in rebounds per game.  6-foot-10 Isaiah Richards and 6-foot-9 Dou Gueye both come off the bench and average 14 minutes each and 5.3 and 3.3 rebounds per game, respectively.

» The Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense has been exceptional guarding the paint this season, Louisiana is tied with the Hoosiers at 17th in the nation with 6.7 swatted shots per game.

» Newcomer Jordan Brown is second in the conference with 2.0 blocks per game.

» Last season, head coach Bob Marlin passed Kermit Davis (Middle Tennessee) to become the Sun Belt Conference’s all-time wins leader (119). Marlin’s 432 victories at the Division I level are the fifth-most by a coach who has spent his entire career at the mid-major level and part of a group that includes Mark Few (Gonzaga), Bob McKillop (Davidson) and Randy Bennett (Saint Mary’s).

» Louisiana was tabbed second overall in the Sun Belt Conference preseason poll released in October. The Ragin’ Cajuns concluded last season with a loss to Georgia State in the conference Semifinals.

» On Nov. 4, Theo Akwuba was named to the Lou Henson Preseason Award Watch List recognizing the best mid-major player in the country.

» During the offseason, Marlin and his staff acquired one of the best transfer classes in the country headlined by 2018 McDonald’s All American and 2021 Pac-12 Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Brown from Arizona.

» Louisiana also added, former four-star talent in Antwann Jones from Creighton, three-star talent and Lafayette native Greg Williams, Jr. from St. Johns, and Jalen Dalcourt, a graduate of Lafayette high school, from San Jose State.

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