— By Bill Cornwell
Marshall looks to return to the top of the Sun Belt Conference standings Saturday night when the Thundering Herd visits the Ragin’ Cajuns of Louisiana. UL is in a first place tie with Southern Miss in the Sun Belt, while Marshall is alone in third place, one game behind the Golden Eagles and Ragin’ Cajuns.
The game tips off at 8 p.m. at the Cajundome in Lafayette, Louisiana. It can be viewed on ESPN+.
While Marshall (19-5, 8-3) picked up a 66-58 win at Appalachian State Thursday night, Louisiana (19-4, 9-2) won its ninth straight game with an 82-63 home victory over Texas State.
Bob Marlin is in his 13th season as head coach at Louisiana and has a 240-171 record, including a 136-93 mark in Sun Belt Conference games.
Marshall head coach Dan D’Antoni says his team is looking forward to challenge Saturday night.
“People want to see good basketball,” D’Antoni said. “They know we’re coming to win and you’re going to get a good game and the game is meaningful. We played them pretty good last year and they basically have the same team this year.”
The Thundering Herd and Ragin’ Cajuns met in Huntington last season, with Marshall earning a 93-79 victory. The teams have met seven previous times and the Herd has a 4-3 series advantage.
The Ragin’ Cajuns have been consistent all season, with non-conference victories over teams such as Louisiana Tech, East Tennessee State, Samford and McNeese State. Louisiana suffered non-conference setbacks at Texas and Drake.
The Ragin’ Cajuns have been perfect in Sun Belt play since dropping their first two league games at Coastal Carolina and Old Dominion.
Louisiana has three players averaging double-figure scoring in junior forward Jordan Brown (19.6 points), senior guard Greg Williams Jr. (14.5) and senior forward Terence Lewis (11.9). Lewis and Brown lead in rebounding with eight and 7.7, respectively.
Redshirt sophomore guard Themus Fulks provides the Ragin’ Cajuns a big boost as a playmaker and has amassed 150 assists this season.
Louisiana nearly matches Marshall in scoring (80.39 points per game as compared with MU’s 82.08). The Ragin’ Cajuns out-rebound opponents by six boards per game.
After Saturday’s contest, Marshall’s four-game road trip continues next week with games at Coastal Carolina on February 9 and Georgia State a week from Saturday. The Herd defeated both schools at the Henderson Center in earlier meetings this season.