It will be a battle between Sun Belt opponents when the Georgia State Panthers (11-3) welcome the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (6-8) to GSU Sports Arena. The game gets underway at 2:30 pm ET on Saturday, Jan. 16 and can be seen on ES3.
The Panthers defeated Louisiana-Monroe 65-51 on Thursday. Jeff Thomas was the game’s leading scorer with 14 points on 5-for-7 shooting. The Ragin’ Cajuns, meanwhile, are coming off a 74-65 win against Georgia Southern on Thursday. Shawn Long had a big game, recording 23 points and 17 rebounds to claim his 10th double-double of the season.
It will be a tale of two tempos, as the fast-paced Ragin’ Cajuns (ranked 16th in the nation in possessions per game) take on the slow-paced Panthers (340th).
Notes
The Georgia State Panthers have a defensive rating of 93.3 (ranked 23rd), while the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns have an offensive rating of 107.6 (ranked 136th).
The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns average a field goal percentage of 44.1% this season. The Georgia State Panthers have split their games this season (2-2) when opponents have a FG% of 44.1% or greater.
The Georgia State Panthers and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns both rank higher in average field goal percentage when compared to their effective field goal percentages. Georgia State is 145th and 97th in the nation for eFG% and FG% respectively, while Louisiana-Lafayette ranks 238th and 176th in these categories.
The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns average 43.3 rebounds per game and are ranked seventh. The Georgia State Panthers average 30.2 rebounds per game, ranked 346th.
When it comes to offensive rebounds, Louisiana-Lafayette ranks 11th. Georgia State ranks 306th in defensive rebounds.
On average, Louisiana-Lafayette forces a turnover rate of 16.9%. When Georgia State turns over the ball at a similar or higher rate, the team has a stellar 6-1 record.
