Louisiana's Preseason Nit Opener November 18
CAJUNS TO FACE GEORGIA TECH IN IN ATLANTA
LOUISIANA SILOUISIANA La. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun basketball team will make its second appearance in the preseason National Invitational Tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 18 as the Cajuns face off with Atlantic Coast Conference member Georgia Tech at 6 p.m. (CST) at GTU's Alexander Memorial Coliseum at McDonald's Center, as announced by NIT Executive Director John J. Powers on Wednesday.
The Cajuns and Yellow Jackets will meet for the first time in school history in a game that will be televised live on ESPN - one of two first round games to be carried on the network's main channel and part of a doubleheader with the Davidson-Texas Tech first round game (8 p.m., ESPN).
The Cajuns will have to win two games to reach Madison Square Garden and should they defeat Ga. Tech would face the winner of Hofstra and Marist in the second round at a site to be determined.
Louisiana will be appearing in the preseason NIT for the first time since the 1994-95 season and the first time under head coach Jessie Evans.
The Cajuns will be the lone representative of the Sun Belt Conference in the 2003 event.
In its last appearance, the Cajuns traveled to Memphis, Tenn., for a first round matchup with the University of Memphis on Nov. 17, 1994, and came up on the short end of a 70-66 outcome.
The Tournament, which was inaugurated in 1985, kicks off on campus sites throughout the nation with first round action on November 17 and 18.
The second round follows up on November 19, 20 and 21 with the semi-final and championship doubleheaders in New York's Madison Square Garden on November 26 and 28.
Once again, ESPN and ESPN2 will provide television coverage of the event.
Louisiana, the two-time defending Sun Belt Conference West Division champions, will be coming off of a 20-10 season and its second straight postseason NIT appearance.
The Cajuns have won 20 or more games in consecutive seasons and in three of the last four. UL is 112-72 under head coach Jessie Evans since he took over during the 1997-98 season.
The Louisiana - Georgia Tech matchup will mark the beginning of the seventh season under Evans.
Georgia Tech, a participant in the 2003 postseason NIT, finished 2002-03 with a 16-15 record and advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2003 Owens Corning NIT before bowing out to Texas Tech.
The Yellow Jackets are coached by former Siena College head coach Paul Hewitt who was on the court when Siena visited the Cajundome on Jan. 2, 2000 - a 71-54 Cajuns victory. Hewitt will be beginning his fourth season with GTU and is 48-44 since taking over in 2000-01.
Ticket information will be made available at a later date.
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