Cajuns Try to Hold on to Third in Sun Belt vs. Georgia State

There's no margin for error for the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns basketball team.

Louisiana (15-12, 11-7 Sun Belt) is currently tied for third place in the league standings and they'll try to maintain that Thursday night when they face defending champion Georgia State (15-12, 8-10) at the Cajundome.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15pm and can be heard on ESPN1420 and HOT 107.9 with pre game beginning approximately 6:45.

The Cajuns can clinch the #3 seed for the Conference Tournament with wins in both games.  They would hold a tiebreaker advantage over UT Arlington because of a win against UL Monroe.

In the meantime, Cajuns' big man Shawn Long is on the precipice of even more milestones as his career as a Cajun winds down.  Long is fourth on the all time scoring charts at UL and needs 70 points to catch Kevin Brooks (2,294) for third place.  Long passed South Alabama's Jeff Hodge for fourth place on the Sun Belt's all time list and needs just 14 points to catch former WKU guard Courtney Lee for third.  He needs six blocked shots to catch Alan Ogg for second place on the league career list.  He already owns the school record.

Long also needs 26 points and seven rebounds to become the first player since Lionel Simmons of LaSalle to garner 2,250 points and 1400 rebounds.  Simmons achieved the mark 25 years ago.

Georgia State has clinched a spot in the Conference Tournament after winning two of its last three games.  The Panthers, picked to finish second in the league, got off to a 4-1 league start, but suffered an 87-54 loss to the Cajuns in Atlanta which started a 2-8 stretch.  Indiana transfer Jeremy Hollowell (14.9) leads the Panthers in scoring, while last year's tournament MVP Kevin Ware (12.2) also averages in double figures.

Cajuns' point guard Jay Wright, who suffered a double dislocation to the index finger of his shooting (right) hand against Troy last Thursday, has practiced with the team and could possibly see some action tonight.

The game will follow women's action at 5:00pm.  Garry Brodhead's Cajuns enter the game with an 18-9 record, 11-7 in the league.  That's good for third place, one game ahead of Troy and South Alabama.  Georgia State is 10-17, 5-13 in the league.