LAFAYETTE, La. -- The Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team will host Rice on Wednesday, March 14 at 7:05 p.m. in the Cajundome in a first round game of the seventh annual Collegeinsider.com Tournament (CIT). Second-year head coach Bob Marlin made the announcement on Friday.
The game will be the first time that UL will play in post-season turnament since the 2002-03 season.
“We are excited about playing in the CIT,” Marlin said. “It will benefit the program any time you get an opportunity to extend your season and play in a postseason tournament. It will be a good learning experience for the team and it will help us to continue to develop the program in the future.
“I have known Joe (Dwyer), Angela (Lento) and the rest of the staff at CollegeInsider.com for a number of years and they are good people. They are good for college basketball, especially the mid-major schools, and they run a first rate tournament.”
Rice went 17-15 this season, including a 65-58 win at Texas A&M in December. The Owls went 8-8 to finish seventh in Conference USA play, but dropped a 68-66 decision to East Carolina in the opening round of the league tourney.
Louisiana holds a 6-5 lead in the all-time series against Rice. The two teams last met on Nov. 27, 2004 with the Ragin’ Cajuns claiming a 75-61 win.
Tickets for the game are now available for purchase. Ticket prices for the contest are $20 for courtside seats, $15 for first and second level seats between the baselines and $10 for second level seats in the endzone and all third level seats. Student tickets will cost $5.
The Cajundome ticket office will be open daily at 10:00 a.m. (except Sunday) and will remain open until 8:00 p.m. each day, except for Monday when it will close at 6:00 p.m.
Tickets will also be available at the UL baseball and softball games over the weekend and online at RaginCajuns.com.
Season ticket holders will have until 12:00 noon on Tuesday (March 13) to reserve their regular seats for the game. After that deadline, all remaining seats in the Cajundome will be available for public sale.
RCAF donors are reminded that their regular parking passes for home games will be valid for any postseason home games.
Because of the nature of the postseason contest, their will be no complimentary tickets available to area coaches, and the Young Ragin‘ Cajuns Club passes will not be honored for the game.
The Ragin’ Cajuns carry a 16-15 record into the postseason, the most wins since the 2002-03 season when UL went 20-10.
The game will mark the 11th postseason appearance for the Ragin’ Cajuns since the program moved to the Division I level for the 1970-71 season. It will be the first time that the Cajuns will play in the CIT.
The CIT is a 24-team tournament that will feature 12 first-round games. Four of the teams that win first-round games will advance to the quarterfinals, while the other eight teams will play for the right to advance to the quarterfinals.
Santa Clara defeated Iona, 76-69, to win the 2011 CIT.
If the Ragin’ Cajuns advance, the second round of the tournament will be held from March 16-18. The quarterfinals are set for March 20-21 with the semi-finals being played on either March 23-24. The championship game is scheduled for Wednesday, March 28 and will be televised nationally on Fox College Sports.