Ragin' Cajuns to host Islanders tonight

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men’s basketball team will open postseason play for the fourth time in the past five seasons today when it hosts Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in the first round of the 2016 CollegeInsider.com Tournament at the Cajundome.
Tipoff is scheduled for 7:15 p.m. and will follow the Ragin’ Cajuns women’s team that hosts Northwestern State in the first round of the Women’s Basketball Invitational.
The game between Louisiana (17-14) and A&M-Corpus Christi (25-7) can be heard in the Lafayette area on Hot 107.9-FM and at RaginCajuns.com. A live video stream also will be available at CollegeInsider.com.
Tickets are available for both games at the Cajundome Box Office and at RaginCajuns.com. Tickets are $30 (courtside), $15 (first and second levels), $10 (second level curves) and $7 (student companion). The first 1,000 UL students will be admitted free, courtesy of Coca-Cola and Buffalo Wild Wings, by presenting a valid university ID.
The Ragin’ Cajuns make their second consecutive trip to the CIT and their third trip overall since 2012 after falling in the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference Tournament last weekend in New Orleans.
Louisiana opened last year’s CIT with wins at Incarnate Word and Sam Houston State before falling to eventual champion Evansville in the quarterfinals at Blackham Coliseum.
Shawn Long, who is the Ragin’ Cajuns all-time leader in rebounds (1,422) and blocked shots (267), earned a spot on the Sun Belt Conference All-Tournament team and moved past Kevin Brooks into third place on the school’s all-time scoring list with 2,305 points.
The 6-foot, 11-inch senior, who leads the Sun Belt Conference in rebounds and is second in blocked shots, is 15 points shy of passing former South Florida standout Charlie Bradley as the league’s No. 2 scorer behind UNO’s Bo McCalebb.
Long, who is the Sun Belt Conference leader in scoring (19.5), rebounds (12.5) and blocked shots (1.8), has recorded 21 double-doubles this season and has 73 in his career — one shy of tying Memphis’ Keith Lee and Navy’s David Robinson for 12th place on the NCAA’s all-time list.
A&M-Corpus Christi, making its third straight trip to the CIT, fell to Stephen F. Austin in the Southland Conference Tournament championship game last week in Katy, Texas. The Islanders have reached the second round of the CIT the past two seasons.