'Bragging rights for life' awaits UL-LSU NIT winner
BATON ROUGE — Johnathan Stove and Frank Bartley IV do not understand why it has taken so darn long.
Bartley, a senior shooting guard and the Ragin’ Cajuns leading scorer, has spent three seasons at UL, one as a redshirt after transferring in from BYU.
Stove, a senior swingman, has played four seasons for the Cajuns.
Yet neither has ever played for UL against LSU, the SEC program based just 55 or so miles down the road in their hometown of Baton Rouge.
That will change Wednesday night, when the two teams meeting in a first-round NIT game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
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But why it hasn’t happened before now is beyond the two.
UL coach Bob Marlin has made it abundantly clear he feels LSU has been dodging the Cajuns, but did a bit of a dance when asked for opinion on why.
“I can’t answer that,” he said.
“I think everyone does what they think’s best for their program, as a head coach. That’s certainly what I do. And I would think he (LSU coach Will Wade) would do the same.”
In any event …
“It’s been kind of frustrating,” Stove said.
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“Whatever the case may be, we can’t avoid it now,” Bartley added. “It’s going to happen.”
It is, and for that friends and family of both Bartley and Stove are thrilled.
Playing 17-14 LSU in the NIT, though, means not playing in the much-preferred NCAA Tournament, which 27-6 Sun Belt Conference regular season-champion UL was denied from doing following Saturday’s SBC tourney semifinal-round loss to Texas-Arlington.
Being able to finally face the Tigers, however, softens the blow just a bit.
“I’d rather be in the NCAA Tournament, definitely,” Stove said.
“Saturday, obviously, it hurt. Sunday it kind of hurt,” Bartley added. “But once we saw where we were playing (in the NIT), I guess everybody kind of a sigh of relief just because it’s LSU. … I’m happy, we’re happy, we’re still playing.”
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So too now is Stove, who called the “opportunity to beat” LSU “lovely.”
“You’ve just got to cherish it,” Stove said. “You get a chance to play; you can’t beat that.”
Neither Bartley nor Stove has played a game back home since they were wearing uniforms of the same Baton Rouge high school, Christian Life Academy.
“It’s gonna be emotional,” said Stove, who was lightly recruited by LSU.
“I know a lot of my family and friends, they’ve been waiting on this moment. We’ve been trying to do this forever, so I’m excited.”
What makes the matchup more intriguing than the mere fact the two teams haven’t played since 2009, and have met only four times since 1937, is that so many players on each other’s roster are quite familiar with each other.
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Cajuns big man Bryce Washington considers LSU’s Brandon Rachel “like a little brother.”
Stove frequently has played pickup ball in the summer with Skylar Mays, Brandon Sampson and Wayde Sims, all fellow Baton Rouge high school products.
Wednesday night, though, will be different.
“It’s gonna be higher stakes, of course, putting on the jersey,” Stove said.
So expect plenty of friendly trash-talking, albeit not from Bartley.
“I don’t do too much talking. When I talk, I lose focus on what’s in sight,” he said. “So, I’ll leave that to Stove and Justin (Miller) and everybody else to talk, and I’m just gonna play and have fun.”
Stove, Washington suggested, is UL’s top trash-talker hands-down.
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Better than Miller. Better than former UL point guard Jay Wright. Better even than ex-Cajun big Shawn Long.
Stove could not even be on the floor, Washington said, and “he’s still gonna be talking trash from the locker room.
“It doesn’t matter with him,” Washington said of his buddy. “That’s not my thing.
“But if we make a play, or we make a run, you’re gonna see a big ol’ smile on my face, because it may get a little personal out there.”
Just what is at stake, beyond advancement in the 32-team NIT?
“Bragging rights for the rest of my life with my friends,” Stove said.
That’s especially the case, Stove suggested, because UL and LSU don’t regularly play each other.
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As a result, all parties involved have had to save most of the in-person yapping for the summertime.
“With my friends on that team,” Stove said, “you get to trash-talking to each other a lot — like, ‘If we play y’all, we’ll beat y’all.’
“I think we’re the two best programs in the state, and to have to play each other now and not before — we should play against them every year, to be honest, just for the rivalry.”
Marlin certainly feels the same way.
On Monday, the Cajuns coach had mixed messages about LSU’s desire to play UL.
First, perhaps beating Stove to the punch, he said the Tigers would be “excited.”
“They’ve not been very good,” Marlin said. “We’ve had a better RPI, and team, than them the last couple of years in the state.”
Yet he also added this: “But they’re not interested in playing — and probably didn’t want to play this game, to be honest. But hopefully it will change in the future.”
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UL (27-6) at LSU (17-14)
WHAT: First-round NIT game
WHEN: 6:01 p.m. Wednesday
WHERE: Pete Maravich Assembly Center, Baton Rouge (13,215)
TV: None
STREAMING: ESPN3 with Drew Fellios and Bob Valvano
RADIO: KHXT 107.9 FM with Jay Walker
UL LEADERS: Frank Bartley IV, 17.7 points per game; JaKeenan Gant, 13.8 points, 5.8 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks per game; Bryce Washington, 10.5 ppg, 10.6 rpg; Marcus Stroman, 6.4 assists per game