The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns open up Sun Belt Conference Tournament play Wednesday afternoon when they take on the Little Rock Trojans in first round action at the UNO Lakefront Arena.

Tipoff is at 5:00 pm.  Air time is 4:30 on ESPN 1420 and HOT 107.9.

It will be the third meeting between the #7 seeded Cajuns and #10 seeded Trojans.  Louisiana won both of the previous meetings, beating the Trojans 69-52 at the Jack Stephens Center on January 2 and taking an 88-82 win at the Cajundome on January 28th

Little Rock (15-16, 6-12) is the defending tournament champion after beating ULM in the finals in New Orleans last year.

Marcus Johnson, Jr. and Jalen Jackson are the leading scorers for the Trojans.  Johnson lit up the Cajuns for 26 points in the second game earlier this year.  In both games, the Cajuns led by twenty points at halftime.  Lis Shoshi is the Trojans' leading rebounder.  He did not play in the game in Lafayette because of a foot injury.

The winner will face #2 seed Georgia State at 5:00pm in Friday's quarterfinals.

THE PREVIOUS MEETINGS

JANUARY 2--LOUISIANA 69, LITTLE ROCK 52--This one was over early.  The Cajuns used an early 7-0 run to take the lead for good at 12-7 and had a 16-2 run to increase the lead to take a 30-13 lead with six and a half minutes remaining in the first half.  Louisiana led by as many as 26 points early in the second half and never led by fewer than 15 points after intermission.  Justin Miller led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points.  Frank Bartley scored 14, Bryce Washington had a double double with 13 points and eleven rebounds and Jay Wright chipped in 10 points and six assists.  Kemy Osse had fifteen points as the only one in double figures for Little Rock

JANUARY 21--LOUISIANA 88, LITTLE ROCK 82--Frank Bartley led six Cajuns in double figures as Louisiana once again used a dominating first half to take the win.  The Cajuns raced out to a 17-3 lead in the first seven and a half minutes and led by twenty points at the half.  The lead was still twenty points with under five minutes left but Marcus Johnson, Jr. led an 18-2 run which cut the lead to six points with :32 left.  The Cajuns hit six straight free throws to keep the Trojans at bay.  Johnson would up with 26 points, 22 in the second half.  Marius Hill added 17 points and Deondre Burns chipped in twelve.

Jerekius Davis scored a career high 17, while Washington, Wright, Miller and Stove all scored in double digits.  The Cajuns shot 61.7% in the game from the field and had a season high ten baskets from beyond the arc.

More From 103.3 The GOAT