Louisiana Back In Action Hosting McNeese

[NewsCopy]

Coming off an opening-night victory over Loyola, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Men's Basketball team returns to action on Saturday when it plays host to I-10 rival McNeese State at the Cajundome.

ipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be available at ESPN+ and can be heard in the Lafayette area on KHXT 107.9 FM, ESPN 1420 AM and the ESPN 1420 app. Live results will be available at CajunStats.com.

Season tickets for the 2019-20 campaign are currently on sale at the Louisiana Athletics Box Office at the Cajundome, by phone at (337) 265-2357, or on-line at RaginCajuns.com/MBBTix.

With the Louisiana Showcase of Marching Bands State Championship being held at Cajun Field, fans attending the Louisiana-McNeese game should expect some minor traffic congestion along W. Congress Street and Cajundome Blvd. Fans who are parking in Lot E (east side of Cajun Field) should enter through Gate 4 on W. Congress St.

The first 400 fans who enter the Cajundome will receive a signed poster commemorating Ragin' Cajuns head coach Bob Marlin's 400 wins as a Division I coach.

Louisiana (1-0) opened its season with a 96-57 win over Loyola, ranked No. 17 in the NAIA poll, as the Ragin' Cajuns had seven newcomers see their first action with five players scoring in double figures.

Jalen Johnson scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds in his Ragin' Cajuns debut with Dou Gueye (15 points/9 rebounds), redshirt freshman Kobe Julien (15 points), junior Cedric Russell (11 points) and freshman Mylik Wilson (11 points) leading the way.

McNeese (0-1) opened its season with a 75-65 loss at Western Michigan on Wednesday as North Texas transfer A.J. Lawson scored a game-high 21 points in his debut. Shamarkus Kennedy added 15 points for the Cowboys with newcomer Dru Kuxhausen adding 10.

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LOUISIANA AC

[VObserver]

McNeese should never be referred to as a rival, Doing so diminishes our brand.

[Louisiana84]

Exactly.

[CajunEXPRESS]

Not a rivalry. They might see us as a rival, but about the only time I know they exist is when they play us, or I see some lame comments about them.

[VObserver]

Exactly.

This is especially true in Men's basketball and football. Though basketball is in the same division as Louisiana, they have sucked majorly for at least the last two decades. It is all right to have a rivalry with LTUR, not with McNeese.

[Turbine]

It may not be classic rivalry or a desired one, buy only a rivalry (of some sort) could account for playing 95 times.

[ZoomZoom]

I'll read "Zem's Gems" every once in awhile. Funny he trashes UL for striving to play in bowl games, while McNeese State is playing the season out, will finish probably above .500 and will be sitting home. Didn't bother checking this week, I'm sure it's all about The Refineryville Bunch. Zem thinks of us as equals, I pray our boys next football season introduce them to their FCS place.

[CajunEXPRESS]

It may not be classic rivalry or a desired one, buy only a rivalry (of some sort) could account for playing 95 times.

A rivalry of convenience and isn’t a rivalry. It’s convenient, that’s all.

[Turbine]

A rivalry of convenience and isn’t a rivalry. It’s convenient, that’s all.

If you want to beat them, they are a rival. Convenient doesn't erase that. Some think it's admitting equality. It's not.

Equal is like 3rd down the list of definitions. Calling them a rival has nothing to do with admitting equality.

First definition: "An opponent you hope to beat." That would make every single opponent a rival.

[CajunEXPRESS]

If you want to beat them, they are a rival. Convenient doesn't erase that. Some think it's admitting equality. It's not.

Equal is like 3rd down the list of definitions. Calling them a rival has nothing to do with admitting equality.

First definition: "An opponent you hope to beat." That would make every single opponent a rival.

One of your rational for using the term rivalry was because of the many times we play. I was simply pointing out how convenient they are, it be surprising if we didn’t play. One thing we do share is very limited funding, so it’s a win, win to play them.

As for exact definition of a rival? The definition clearly doesn’t do justice to the common understanding of the word.

[talktomewillis]

Well, it's the last time we're playing them, so there's that

[Cajunsmike]

Well, it's the last time we're playing them, so there's that

I am sure we will eventually play McNeese after tonight in the future at some point. Jay said on his show they chose not to renew because their AD had ordered them to play multiple money road games