UL's Marlin: 'Old-school guys think that LSU is better'
BATON ROUGE — On Wednesday night, the UL basketball team plays a first-round NIT game against LSU here.
Why the 27-6 Ragin’ Cajuns aren’t playing the 17-14 Tigers at the Cajundome is something they seemingly cannot comprehend for the life of them, especially considering their much-better RPI rank of 63 vs. 94.
Host LSU is the No. 3 seed in the two teams’ NIT region; UL is the No. 6 seed, despite the disparity.
“I thought we should have been a higher seed … but it doesn’t matter,” shooting guard Frank Bartley said.
“We have no control over the seeding. We’d love to have a home game. I’m sure it would be exciting to play them here (in Lafayette),” added senior swingman Johnathan Stove, who like Bartley is from Baton Rouge’s Christian Life Academy. “But you still get a chance to play, so we’re grateful for the opportunity, for sure.”
More:Questions aside, UL vs. LSU matchup fun
Asked for actual answers as to why the Cajuns must travel to Baton Rouge, UL coach Bob Marlin suggested he didn’t have any.
But he did venture one guess, calling it “bias.”
“A lot of the old-school guys think that LSU is better than we are,” he said, referring to no one in particular more specifically. “And they obviously haven’t seen our facilities, or looked at the fine print.”
LSU hasn't played in Lafayette since 1937.
INJURY UPDATES
Some injury/illness updates for the Cajuns:
►Marlin on starting center JaKeenan Gant, who was quite limited during the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last weekend due to an apparent upper respiratory issue: “He had a chest X-ray (Monday) morning. It came back clear, and he’s getting some treatments.”
More:Cajuns miss Gant's presence in Sun Belt tourney loss
►Marlin on sixth man Stove (high ankle sprain): “Feel like Stove will be a little bit better as well, and hopefully both those guys (Stove and Gant) will be at full strength.”
►Stove on his ankle: “I’m pretty healthy. I’ll be ready to go.”
►UL starting big man Bryce Washington on the bloody nose he sustained in Saturday’s loss to UTA, and a new injury: “It felt like it was broken at the time. But for me not to play on Wednesday … I also sprained my ankle … nah, I’d have to be in a wheelchair not to play.”
Related:Marlin says UL leader Washington 'loves to rebound'
MYSTERY SOLVED
As a native, Stove jokingly was asked why traffic always seems to be backed up in his hometown.
“Because nobody can drive in Baton Rouge, for sure,” he said.
“It’s terrible on I-10. If the game’s at six (which it is), you might want to leave here (Lafayette) by 12 just to make sure you get there on time.”
THE BRACKET
The winner of the UL-LSU game will face the winner of Wednesday night’s game between Utah and UC Davis.
If UL wins, it would play next at Utah if the Utes win, or, otherwise, play at home against UC Davis.
More:With no NCAA bid, 27-6 Cajuns facing LSU in the NIT
UL is part of an eight-team regional in which St. Mary’s is the No. 1 seed.
St. Mary’s played host late Tuesday night to Southeastern Louisiana, the Southland Conference’s regular-season champ.
The winner of UL’s portion of the bracket will play the winner of second-round game pitting the winner of the St. Mary’s-SLU game against the winner of a game between Boise State and Washington.
NIT HISTORY
UL will be making its first appearance in the NIT since 2003, when it lost its opening game 82-80 at Alabama-Birmingham.
The Cajuns are making their sixth postseason NIT appearance. Their overall postseason NIT record is 6-6.
UL’s 1983-84 team — coached by Bobby Paschal — made it to New York, where it lost its NIT Final Four semifinal game to Notre Dame and lost its consolation game to Virginia Tech.
More:How to buy tickets for UL's NIT basketball game at LSU
POSTSEASON HONORS
It was announced Tuesday that UL placed three players on the 10-member NABC All-District 24 team, with Washington and Bartley IV being named to the first team and Gant to the second team.
Also on the first team: Georgia State’s D’Marcus Simonds, Texas-Arlington’s Kevin Hervey and Georgia Southern’s Tookie Brown.
The two District 24 teams, voted on by NABC Division I coaches, include only players from Sun Belt Conference programs.
Before last week’s Sun Belt Tournament, Washington and Bartley were named to the SBC first team and Gant to the SBC third team.
Bartley also was named over the weekend to the All-Sun Belt Tournament Team, which had Simonds as its MVP, and recently was one of 12 players, and the only one from the Sun Belt, picked for the prestigious USBWA All-District VII Team, which includes players from throughout Texas and Louisiana.
Related:Plenty of hurt for UL in Sun Belt tourney loss to UTA
TV TALK
The UL-LSU game will be streamed online by ESPN3, making it one of just five among 16 first-round NIT matchups that will not be televised on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU.
The other four: Oregon-Rider, Western Kentucky-Boston College, Boise State-Washington and Utah-UC Davis.