Coming off their first Sun Belt Conference win of the season and a monster performance by Joe Charles, the Louisiana men's basketball team heads to Troy for a Wednesday night conference battle.

Charles had a huge game in Saturday's 85-77 win over Coastal Carolina, posting 22 points, 14 rebounds, five blocks, four threes, three assists, and three steals. He became just the fourth player in Division I to post those numbers in a single game since 1996. The Carencro product is the fourth player this season with 20-plus points, 14 rebounds, and five blocks in a single game.

Hosana Kitenge had a nice game against his former team, matching a career-high with 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Kentrell Garnett had a quiet 13 points, connecting from deep three times and was a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Michael Thomas had 11 points, one off a career-high, off the bench. Louisiana scored 25 points off turnovers, a season high.

Story Lines
• Joe Charles turned in as complete a game as anyone in college basketball on Saturday. The junior scored 22 points with 14 rebounds, 5 blocks, 4 three-pointers, 3 assists, and 3 steals, becoming just the fourth player to achieve that stat line or better since 1996. The other 3 players in that group are Mike Daum (South Dakota State, 2019), Xavier Cooks (Winthrop, 2018), and Jake Stephens (Chattanooga, 2022). His performance made him just the second player in the Bob Marlin era with a 20-point, 14-rebound, 5-block game, joining Shawn Long who did it 4 times as a Cajun.
• Charles leads the SBC in rebounding during league play at 14.0 rebounds per game. Over his last 4 games, he's averaging 14.5 boards and grabbed at least 13 in each of those games. He is also tied for the lead in league play with 8 blocks and fourth with 6 steals. For the season he is second in rebounding (9.9), tied for the lead in steals (1.9), and tied for third in blocks (1.7).
• Kobe Julien continues to lead the SBC in scoring at 17.3 points per game on the season. Themus Fulks is second in the league in assists at 4.5 per game. In conference action, Fulks is second in the league in steals at a 2.7 per game clip.
• Louisiana looks to avenge last season's loss at Troy, which snapped an 8-game winning streak over the Trojans. The Cajuns had won 5 straight at Troy before that.
• A win would be the 1,500th victory in program history.

GAME 16 PREVIEW – Louisiana (8-7, 1-2 SBC) vs. Troy (9-6, 3-0 SBC)
Date/Time: January 10, 2024 / 7:30 p.m.
Site: Troy, Alabama
Arena: Trojan Arena (5,200)

RADIO/TV
TV: ESPN+
??Talent: Barry McKnight (pxp), Jerry Miller (analyst)
Radio: KPEL-FM 96.5 / The Varsity Network
Talent: Jay Walker (pxp)

SERIES HISTORY
Overall: Louisiana leads, 22-7
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 12-4
In Troy: Louisiana leads, 8-3
Neutral Sites: Louisiana leads, 2-0
Streak: Troy, +1