Why Cajuns basketball needs a win after dropping a game to App. State

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns went into Boone, North Carolina on Feb. 17 looking to get back on track and threaten for a top spot in the Sun Belt Conference. Instead, a series of late-game mistakes closed their third week of February with a loss to the Appalachian State Mountaineers, 85–73.

With six minutes left in the game, the Cajuns were just three points behind, but two devastating 3-pointers by freshman App State guard Jordan Marsh (the game’s leading scorer), a series of empty Cajuns possessions and some unfortunate turnovers prevented the comeback push.

The result, on top of a Feb. 7 loss to the Georgia State Panthers, means the Cajuns now hold a 9–5 conference record, three games back of No. 1-seeded App State in the standings.

Junior forward Kobe Julien, one of the Cajuns’ best offensive weapons, has struggled in his last three games, hitting just 9-of-36 shots from the field in that stretch. He’s also missed his last 10 3-point shots.

This reflects in the team’s performance from beyond the arc, which against Old Dominion on Feb. 15 and the aforementioned App State game dipped to around 28%, well below the team’s conference average of about 35%. The team also managed to draw just five free-throw attempts against App State to the opposing 17.

A part of the problem has been the decision-making in transition offense. “We were fantastic in the half-court, I think we had our highest score of the year in on our analytics page offensively and defensively, but we did not convert in transition the way we need to,” head coach Bob Marlin said in a Feb. 12 press conference after a win over Old Dominion.

“We’ve gotta finish. It’s about attacking the basket, getting to the free-throw line if it’s a two-on-one. We pitched it ahead a couple times yesterday and shot a one-on-three 3-point shot,” Marlin said. While taking a transition three can be effective in the right hands, Marlin made clear it’s not the philosophy of the team.

Transfer forward Hosana Kitenge managed to tie Marsh’s efforts in the App State match with 23 points to go along with 13 rebounds to mark his third consecutive double-double and his fifth of the season.

“We wanna play for championships. I mean, we want to win the league, and that Georgia State game was a major setback, because that game took away one that we had to play with,” Marlin said.

“We’ve got some tough games down the stretch, four of the six are on the road,” Marlin said. “They’re all important… I think the most important part, again, is if you finish in the top-4 in a 14-team league, that’s pretty solid,” Marlin said, adding that making the bye round of the SBC Championship Tournament is the goal of the late regular season.

“It’s going to be a challenge, but I feel confident that we can finish in the top 4 if we continue to play good basketball,” Marlin said. “We’ve got to avoid Marshall in a tie scenario and then we’ve gotta beat Southern Miss.

“We do feel confident. This is a close-knit group, and now is where the rubber hits the road in this next month. It’s time,” Marlin said.

On recent free-throw discrepancies, Marlin said, “Twenty percent of our games, we’ve shot more free throws than our opponents, and we’ve won eight of our last nine. Figure that out.” As of now, just four games remain on the men’s schedule before the SBC Tournament. Winning out may be the Cajuns’ only hope for that coveted top spot. Next up is a trip north to take on the ULM Warhawks on Feb. 22.