Cajuns Host Jaguars Tonight in Sun Belt Play

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns have gotten it done at home in conference play over the last couple of years.

Tonight, they'll try to improve on that record against the Jaguars of the University of South Alabama at the Cajundome.

Tipoff is 7:05 and can be heard on ESPN1420 and Hot 107.9, as well as KANE 1240am in New Iberia.

The Cajuns (8-9, 2-1 SBC), have won 17 of their last 18 conference games on their home court.  The only blemish in that streak was a 93-91 OT loss to Middle Tennessee last season.  Louisiana is 1-0 at home in conference play this year after beating Florida Atlantic on Dec. 31.

The Cajuns lead the all time series with USA 24-20.  Louisiana won the meeting last year at the Mitchell Center in Mobile in overtime 76-70.  The Cajuns trailed by nine points with nine minutes to go in regulation, but came back to force the extra period.  J. J. Thomas had a monster game for the Cajuns in Mobile, with 28 points and 13 rebounds.  LaRyan Gary added 18 points and Travis Bureau secured 20 rebounds for the Cajuns, who, in that game, notched their first road win in a calendar year.

The last time the teams met at the Cajundome, Randall Daigle's 30-footer at the buzzer gave the Cajuns a 67-65 win.  South Alabama had hit two free throws with just three seconds remaining to go ahead before Daigle's shot.

South Alabama is 8-6 this season, but 0-3 in Sun Belt play.  The Jaguars lost a Middle Tennessee in their conference opener, before falling at home to North Texas and Denver this past week.  But USA has posted wins this year against UAB and at LSU.  Their three losses prior to conference play were at Mississippi State and Florida State and at home to Southern Miss.

Sun Belt pre-season player of the year Augustine Rubit leads the Jaguars and the league in both scoring (14.8) and rebounding (8.9).  Antoine Lundy is second in the league in rebounding, while Javier Carter leads the league in blocked shots.  South Alabama is the league's best rebounding team, outboarding the opposition by nine per game.

South Alabama has had a double-digit rebounding advantage in each of its last six games.

For more information, including team statistics:

Click here for Louisiana statistics

Click here for USA statistics.