Cajuns Face Warhawks – Inside The Numbers

UL junior guard Kasey Shepherd

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajun men’s basketball team is back in action on Thursday night, when coach Bob Marlin’s squad travels to Monroe, Louisiana to take on the ULM Warhawks in a key Sun Belt Conference tilt.

Tip-off time is scheduled for 7:30 pm, and you can hear all the play-by-play action on ESPN 1420 and espn1420.com, as well as Hot 107.9 and 1079ishot.com, beginning with the pregame show at 7 o'clock.

The match-up will be the first game of a short two-game road trip for Louisiana, and will also be the back-end of a women’s/men's doubleheader, with the UL women taking on ULM at 5 o'clock.Louisiana, who is coming off of an 84-69 home loss over UT-Arlington on Saturday, is 13-11, overall, and 7-6 in league play, while ULM, who beat Georgia Southern, 71-68, in overtime, last Saturday, has won four-straight, and is currently 16-8, overall, and 10-3 in Sun Belt Conference play.

UL currently sits in fifth-place in the Sun Belt Conference standings, while ULM leads the way.

The Cajuns are outscoring the opposition, 79.7/71.8, while out-shooting foes from the floor, 46.6%/43.1%, and holding down a 39.7/33.8 rebounding edge.

UL is paced by junior forward Shawn Long, who leads the team in both scoring and rebounding, at 17.5 ppg, and 10.3 rpg, respectively, and senior forward Brian Williams, who is averaging 10.6 points, to go along with 3.8 rebounds a contest.

Louisiana is 3-7 away from home this season, including a 3-3 conference road mark.

The Warhawks are out-scoring the opposition, 65.5/60.4, and out-shooting foes from the field, 43.7%/37.7%, while holding down a 36.8/34.5 rebounding advantage.

ULM is paced by senior guard Tylor Ongwae, who is averaging 14.1 points and 7.0 rebounds-per-game, along with junior guard forward Majok Deng, who is averaging 9.9 points, along with 6.8 rebounds a contest.

ULM won the first meeting between the two squads earlier this year, defeating Louisiana, 57-55, back on January 19 at the Cajundome.