2017–18 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team
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The 2017–18 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by eighth-year head coach Bob Marlin and played their home games at the Cajundome as members in the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 27–7, 16–2 in Sun Belt play to win the Sun Belt regular season championship.[1] The conference championship was the school's first since first regular-season title since sharing the 2000 title and its first outright title since joining the conference in 1991.[2] They defeated Texas State in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament[3] before losing in the semifinals to Texas–Arlington.[4] As a regular season conference champion who failed to win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to LSU.[5]
2017–18 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball | |
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Sun Belt Regular Season Champions | |
NIT, First Round | |
Conference | Sun Belt Conference |
Record | 27–7 (16–2 Sun Belt) |
Head coach |
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Assistant coaches |
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Home arena | Cajundome |
Seasons |
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Louisiana | 16 | – | 2 | .889 | 27 | – | 7 | .794 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Georgia State † | 12 | – | 6 | .667 | 24 | – | 11 | .686 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Georgia Southern | 11 | – | 7 | .611 | 21 | – | 12 | .636 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Texas–Arlington | 10 | – | 8 | .556 | 21 | – | 13 | .618 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Louisiana–Monroe | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 16 | .500 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Troy | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 16 | – | 17 | .485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Appalachian State | 9 | – | 9 | .500 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coastal Carolina | 8 | – | 10 | .444 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
South Alabama | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 14 | – | 18 | .438 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Texas State | 7 | – | 11 | .389 | 15 | – | 18 | .455 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arkansas State | 6 | – | 12 | .333 | 11 | – | 21 | .344 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Little Rock | 4 | – | 14 | .222 | 7 | – | 25 | .219 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† 2018 Sun Belt Conference tournament winner |
Head coach Bob Marlin sparked controversy after it was announced that the Cajuns would play in-state rival LSU in the NIT, believing the Cajuns were the better team and should have been given home-court advantage.[6] He also said of LSU, "Sometimes, a team that tied for ninth in their league isn’t interested in playing. But they haven’t been very good for a couple of years, so the NIT is a big step for them."[7] Late in the game, which LSU won, Marlin and LSU head coach Will Wade had to be restrained while yelling at each other.[8]