# 2017–18 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team

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. 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. They defeated Texas State in the quarterfinals of the Sun Belt tournament before losing in the semifinals to Texas–Arlington. 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.
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. 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." Late in the game, which LSU won, Marlin and LSU head coach Will Wade had to be restrained while yelling at each other.

## Previous season

The Ragin' Cajuns finished the 2016–17 season 21–12, 10–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for sixth place. They defeated Little Rock in the first round of the Sun Belt tournament before losing to Georgia State in the quarterfinals. They did not participate in a postseason tournament.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Roydell Brown | 25 | G | 6'5" | 184 | Freshman | New Orleans, Louisiana | Transferred to Southwest Mississippi Community College |
| Jay Wright | 1 | F | 6'1" | 170 | Senior | Rincon, Georgia | Graduated |

### Incoming recruits

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Elijah McCoy PF | Fresno, California | Roosevelt High School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 235 lb (107 kg) | Jun 9, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Cedric Russell #60 SG | New Orleans, Louisiana | Peabody Magnet High School | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 28, 2016 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Louisiana 2017 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 23, 2017. "2017 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved July 23, 2017. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| Nov 2* 7:00 pm | | Millsaps | W 112–63 | | 15 – Miller | 10 – Washington | 3 – Stalcup | Cajundome (1,474) Lafayette, LA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| Nov 10* 7:30 pm, SECN Plus | | at Ole Miss | L 76–94 | 0–1 | 16 – Stove | 8 – Gant | 5 – Stroman | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (8,302) Oxford, MS |
| Nov 14* 7:00 pm | | Louisiana College | W 113–58 | 1–1 | 19 – Hardy | 9 – Gant | 5 – Hardy | Cajundome (3,474) Lafayette, LA |
| Nov 17* 4:00 pm | | Savannah State | W 115–82 | 2–1 | 21 – Bartley | 15 – Washington | 11 – Stroman | Cajundome (3,096) Lafayette, LA |
| Nov 20* 11:00 am | | vs. Iowa Cayman Islands Classic quarterfinals | W 80–71 | 3–1 | 17 – Bartley | 10 – Washington | 11 – Stroman | John Gray High School (1,200) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 21* 1:30 pm | | vs. Wyoming Cayman Islands Classic semifinals | L 61–70 | 3–2 | 19 – Bartley | 9 – Gant | 3 – Marquetti | John Gray High School (654) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 22* 4:00 pm | | vs. Richmond Cayman Islands Classic 3rd place game | W 82–76 | 4–2 | 23 – Bartley | 13 – Washington | 7 – Stroman | John Gray High School (850) George Town, Cayman Islands |
| Nov 28* 7:00 pm | | McNeese State | W 89–78 | 5–2 | 17 – Marquetti | 12 – Washington | 4 – Bartley | Cajundome (3,489) Lafayette, LA |
| Dec 1* 7:00 pm | | at Nicholls State | W 105–80 | 6–2 | 23 – Stove | 12 – Washington | 7 – Stove | Stopher Gym (733) Thibodaux, LA |
| Dec 6* 7:00 pm | | Loyola–New Orleans | W 98–56 | 7–2 | 23 – Gant | 13 – Washington | 4 – Miller | Cajundome (3,190) Lafayette, LA |
| Dec 12* 6:30 pm | | at Louisiana Tech | W 75–71 | 8–2 | 22 – Gant | 10 – Washington | 9 – Stroman | Thomas Assembly Center (3,438) Ruston, LA |
| Dec 16* 7:00 pm | | New Orleans | W 87–65 | 9–2 | 21 – Gant | 11 – Gant | 7 – Stroman | Cajundome (3,445) Lafayette, LA |
| Dec 19* 7:00 pm | | Southeastern Louisiana | W 82–74 | 10–2 | 14 – Gant | 12 – Gant | 5 – Washington | Cajundome (3,323) Lafayette, LA |
| Dec 22* 2:00 pm, ACCN Extra | | at Clemson | L 60–89 | 10–3 | 16 – Stroman | 6 – Bartley | 3 – Stroman | Littlejohn Coliseum (8,847) Clemson, SC |
| Sun Belt regular season |||||||||
| Dec 29 7:00 pm | | at Little Rock | W 77–63 | 11–3 (1–0) | 20 – Gant | 19 – Washington | 5 – Stroman | Jack Stephens Center (1,688) Little Rock, AR |
| Dec 31 3:30 pm | | at Arkansas State | W 88–78 | 12–3 (2–0) | 23 – Bartley | 11 – Washington | 10 – Stroman | First National Bank Arena (2,076) Jonesboro, AR |
| Jan 4, 2018 7:15 pm | | Appalachian State | W 78–45 | 13–3 (3–0) | 16 – Bartley | 10 – Washington | 4 – Stroman | Cajundome (4,329) Lafayette, LA |
| Jan 6 7:00 pm | | Coastal Carolina | W 81–64 | 14–3 (4–0) | 22 – Bartley | 12 – Washington | 6 – Washington | Cajundome (4,150) Lafayette, LA |
| Jan 13 7:00 pm | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 82–48 | 15–3 (5–0) | 12 – Bartley | 12 – Washington | 10 – Stroman | Cajundome (5,813) Lafayette, LA |
| Jan 18 7:15 pm, ESPN3 | | at Texas–Arlington | W 77–65 | 16–3 (6–0) | 26 – Bartley | 16 – Washington | 6 – Stroman | College Park Center (2,384) Arlington, TX |
| Jan 20 7:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Texas State | W 80–55 | 17–3 (7–0) | 19 – Marquetti | 9 – Washington | 6 – Stroman | Strahan Coliseum (3,222) San Marcos, TX |
| Jan 25 7:15 pm | | South Alabama | W 76–57 | 18–3 (8–0) | 21 – Marquetti | 16 – Washington | 5 – Stroman | Cajundome (5,036) Lafayette, LA |
| Jan 27 2:00 pm | | Troy | W 81–69 | 19–3 (9–0) | 24 – Gant | 9 – Washington | 5 – Bartley | Cajundome (4,865) Lafayette, LA |
| Feb 3 2:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Louisiana–Monroe | W 80–53 | 20–3 (10–0) | 22 – Bartley | 9 – Washington | 7 – Stroman | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (2,269) Monroe, LA |
| Feb 8 6:15 pm, ESPN3 | | at Georgia State | L 92–106 | 20–4 (10–1) | 21 – Bartley | 8 – Stroman | 15 – Stroman | GSU Sports Arena (2,065) Atlanta, GA |
| Feb 10 4:00 pm, ESPN3 | | at Georgia Southern | W 102–91 | 21–4 (11–1) | 28 – Stove | 13 – Washington | 8 – Stroman | Hanner Fieldhouse (2,687) Statesboro, GA |
| Feb 15 7:15 pm | | Texas State | W 73–63 | 22–4 (12–1) | 19 – Washington | 10 – Washington | 11 – Stroman | Cajundome (4,382) Lafayette, LA |
| Feb 17 7:00 pm | | Texas–Arlington | W 100–79 | 23–4 (13–1) | 25 – Bartley | 10 – Washington | 6 – Washington | Cajundome (5,104) Lafayette, LA |
| Feb 22 7:15 pm, ESPN3 | | at Troy | W 81–76 | 24–4 (14–1) | 22 – Bartley | 10 – Washington | 4 – Stove | Trojan Arena (2,236) Troy, AL |
| Feb 24 7:05 pm | | at South Alabama | W 88–71 | 25–4 (15–1) | 20 – Davis | 13 – Washington | 4 – Stroman | Mitchell Center (1,946) Mobile, AL |
| Mar 1 7:15 pm | | Arkansas State | W 85–74 | 26–4 (16–1) | 18 – Bartley | 7 – Washington | 8 – Stroman | Cajundome (4,307) Lafayette, LA |
| Mar 3 7:00 pm | | Little Rock | L 61–72 | 26–5 (16–2) | 17 – Gant | 14 – Washington | 8 – Stroman | Cajundome (5,275) Lafayette, LA |
| Sun Belt tournament |||||||||
| Mar 9 11:30 am, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (9) Texas State Quarterfinals | W 80–54 | 27–5 | 23 – Bartley | 8 – Washington | 8 – Stroman | Lakefront Arena (2,170) New Orleans, LA |
| Mar 10 11:30 am, ESPN3 | (1) | vs. (4) Texas–Arlington Semifinals | L 68–71 | 27–6 | 19 – Bartley | 10 – Washington | 7 – Stroman | Lakefront Arena (2,811) New Orleans, LA |
| NIT |||||||||
| Mar 14* 6:00 pm, ESPN3 | (6) | at (3) LSU First round – Saint Mary's Bracket | L 76–84 | 27–7 | 21 – Bartley | 13 – Stroman | 7 – Stroman | Maravich Center (6,846) Baton Rouge, LA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||