The Basketball team will return to the hardwood on Saturday afternoon at 1PM in the Yum Center. They will face the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns. The game can be seen locally on WHAS TV or on ESPN3. The Cards have won 19 straight over unranked opponents and 24 straight non-conference home games. The Ragin Cajuns have dropped 12 straight against ranked opponents. Louisville is 8-0 in this series against Louisiana-Lafayette and the last time these teams played was on Dec. 23, 2009, in Freedom Hall.
“We’re excited about those guys (Payton and Long) and our new guys, too,” Bob Marlin said. “We’ve got some depth and some guys who can step in and play. We’re deeper at guard than we’ve been and deeper on the frontline than we’ve been.”
Picked to finish fourth in the Sun Belt Head Coach Bob Marlin is optimistic as the Cajuns seek their first winning season since 2005. That’s also the last year the program made the NCAA tournament another thing on the Cajuns list this season. This team doesn’t do anything exceptional but they do a lot of things well. They are averaging 84.4 points and shooting 47.5 percent, 36% from the three. They take pretty good care of the ball averaging 15 turnovers to 14 assist. This will be one of the better rebounding teams that the Cards have faced this season averaging 41 a game.
This team returns all their major contributors from last season including their two best players and two of the Sun Belt’s top players in preseason all-conference first-team selections Elfrid Payton (19.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 5 assist) and Shawn Long (20.1 points, 11.6 rebounds). Payton is the team’s star and his performance last year helped earn him a spot on the U-19 USA team this summer at the World Championships. He’s also excellent at reaching the free throw line and his offensive output could be even higher if he makes more than 64 percent of his free throws. Long is less efficient than Payton but is a phenomenal rebounder and is ranked 6th in the nation in that category. Still, Marlin will need other players to step up if UL-Lafayette is going to contend with the Cards. Starters Elridge Moore (7.1 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Steven Wronkowski (6 points, 3 rebounds) both recorded sub-90 offensive ratings last season. They have been better shooters and had fewer turnovers this season making them more effective. Starter Kevin Brown (6.8 points, 1.6 rebounds) has also stepped up for this team. Their key reserves are Kasey Shepherd (6.9 points, 2.1 rebounds) and Xavian Rimmer (8.6 points, 2 rebounds).
The Ragin Cajuns
2013-14 OVERALL RANKINGS
-POINTS PER GAME
84.4
28th
OVERALL
-REBOUNDS PER GAME
41.4
29th
OVERALL
-ASSISTS PER GAME
13.6
125th
OVERALL
-FIELD GOAL PCT
.475
77th
OVERALL
Kenpom Ranks
Overall – #84
Defense Adjustment Efficiency
-99.1 ranks 75th
Offensive Adjustment Efficiency
-106.1 ranks 122nd
Our Cards are playing some of their best basketball of the season right now and this will be a good test to see just how good that is. With two sound play-makers in Payton and Long, the Ragin Cajuns might be able to compete seriously for an NCAA tournament berth. These guys will challenge the defense in the Cardinal back-court Russ and Chris will get a good work-out. With the way Long goes to the glass he will be a good test for the Cards wing players. They’ll have to find this guy and get a body on him. We’ve witnessed what an exception rebounder can do for a team that is slightly undersized a few years ago in the NCAA tourney. Long has a Kenneth Faried type of edge about him. It will be a good battle on the boards on Saturday. The competition goes up a notch with the Cajuns but I expect them to be another notch in the Cardinals belt after this one is over. The only question in this one will be Louisville’s starting line-up.