# 2023–24 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team

The 2023–24 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Ragin' Cajuns, led by 14th-year head coach Bob Marlin, played their home games at the Cajundome as members of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 19–14, 10–8 in Sun Belt play to finish in fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the Sun Belt tournament, they defeated Coastal Carolina in the second round, before losing to Arkansas State in the quarterfinals.

## Previous season

The Ragin' Cajuns finished the 2021–22 season 26–8, 13–5 in Sun Belt play to finish in a tie for second place. As the No. 2 seed in the Sun Belt tournament, they defeated Georgia Southern, Texas State, and South Alabama to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 13 seed in the East region. Then they lost to Tennessee in the first round.

## Preseason
### Preseason Sun Belt Conference poll

The Ragin' Cajuns were picked to finish in fifth place in the conference's preseason poll. Redshirt junior Themus Fulks was named to the preseason All-SBC First Team.
Coaches poll :
| Predicted finish | Team (1st place Votes) |
| 1 | James Madison - 176 (7) |
| 2 | App State - 159 (2) |
| 3 | Old Dominion - 154 (1) |
| 4 | Southern Miss - 148 |
| 5 | Louisiana - 136 (2) |
| 6 | South Alabama - 129 (2) |
| 7 | Marshall - 119 |
| 8 | Troy - 91 |
| 9 | Arkansas State - 84 |
| 10 | Texas State - 72 |
| 11 | Georgia State - 69 |
| 12 | Coastal Carolina - 59 |
| 13 | Georgia Southern - 42 |
| 14 | ULM - 32 |

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| October 30, 2023* 7:00 p.m. | | UT Tyler | W 80–57 | | – | – | – | Cajundome Lafayette, LA |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 6, 2023* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Youngstown State | W 72–62 | 1–0 | 20 – Fulks | 10 – Charles | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,078) Lafayette, LA |
| November 11, 2023* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Toledo MAC-SBC Challenge | L 78–87 | 1–1 | 25 – Fulks | 10 – Charles | 5 – Fulks | Savage Arena (4,290) Toledo, OH |
| November 15, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana Christian | W 107–56 | 2–1 | 20 – Garnett | 11 – Ratliff | 7 – Fulks | Cajundome (1,849) Lafayette, LA |
| November 20, 2023* 4:00 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Wright State Gulf Coast Showcase quarterfinals | L 85–91 | 2–2 | 23 – Charles | 9 – Charles | 3 – Fulks | Hertz Arena (213) Estero, FL |
| November 21, 2023* 12:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Buffalo Gulf Coast Showcase Consolation 2nd round | W 68–60 | 3–2 | 30 – Julien | 10 – Charles | 3 – Thomas | Hertz Arena (231) Estero, FL |
| November 22, 2023* 12:30 p.m., FloHoops | | vs. Long Beach State Gulf Coast Showcase 5th place game | W 92–82 | 4–2 | 20 – Butler | 10 – Charles | 5 – Thomas | Hertz Arena (176) Estero, FL |
| November 27, 2023* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Loyola New Orleans | W 78–54 | 5–2 | 19 – Julien | 7 – Kitenge | 3 – Ratliff | Cajundome (1,565) Lafayette, LA |
| November 30, 2023* 6:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Samford | L 65–88 | 5–3 | 29 – Julien | 6 – Julien | 4 – Fulks | Pete Hanna Center (1,471) Homewood, AL |
| December 9, 2023* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana Tech | L 67–72 | 5–4 | 26 – Julien | 9 – Julien | 6 – Fulks | Thomas Assembly Center (2,474) Ruston, LA |
| December 13, 2023* 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Eastern Kentucky | W 73–62 | 6–4 | 21 – Fulks | 10 – Charles | 4 – Fulks | Cajundome (1,417) Lafayette, LA |
| December 17, 2023* 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at McNeese | L 72–74 | 6–5 | 19 – Garnett | 8 – Charles | 4 – Fulks | The Legacy Center (4,300) Lake Charles, LA |
| December 22, 2023* 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Rice | W 84–67 | 7–5 | 19 – Julien | 16 – Charles | 5 – Fulks | Tudor Fieldhouse (2,232) Houston, TX |
| Sun Belt Conference regular season |||||||||
| December 30, 2023 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Marshall | L 61–75 | 7–6 (0–1) | 11 – Tied | 13 – Charles | 2 – Fulks | Cam Henderson Center (4,248) Huntington, WV |
| January 4, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | No. 19 James Madison | L 61–68 | 7–7 (0–2) | 17 – Garnett | 15 – Charles | 3 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,349) Lafayette, LA |
| January 6, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Coastal Carolina | W 85–77 | 8–7 (1–2) | 22 – Charles | 14 – Charles | 6 – Fulks | Cajundome (2,383) Lafayette, LA |
| January 10, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Troy | L 73–79 | 8–8 (1–3) | 20 – Julien | 9 – Kitenge | 4 – Fulks | Trojan Arena (2,798) Troy, AL |
| January 13, 2024 2:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Arkansas State | W 84–77 | 9–8 (2–3) | 25 – Kitenge | 7 – Kitenge | 7 – Fulks | First National Bank Arena (2,681) Jonesboro, AR |
| January 17, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Texas State | W 86–68 | 10–8 (3–3) | 18 – Julien | 10 – Charles | 10 – Fulks | Strahan Arena (2,858) San Marcos, TX |
| January 20, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at South Alabama | W 88–79 | 11–8 (4–3) | 24 – Julien | 11 – Kitenge | 4 – Fulks | Mitchell Center (2,991) Mobile, AL |
| January 26, 2024 4:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Arkansas State Rescheduled from January 25th | W 81–75 | 12–8 (5–3) | 21 – Julien | 10 – Charles | 5 – Fulks | Cajundome (1,874) Lafayette, LA |
| January 28, 2024 12:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Texas State | W 66–46 | 13–8 (6–3) | 23 – Fulks | 13 – Charles | 3 – Garnett | Cajundome (1,392) Lafayette, LA |
| January 31, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Louisiana–Monroe | W 80–72 | 14–8 (7–3) | 19 – Tied | 11 – Charles | 4 – Fulks | Cajundome (1,668) Lafayette, LA |
| February 3, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | South Alabama | W 80–60 | 15–8 (8–3) | 18 – Kitenge | 15 – Charles | 3 – Tied | Cajundome (1,873) Lafayette, LA |
| February 7, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Georgia State | L 69–78 | 15–9 (8–4) | 28 – Julien | 11 – Charles | 4 – Fulks | Cajundome (1,613) Lafayette, LA |
| February 11, 2024* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Bowling Green MAC-SBC Challenge | W 86–60 | 16–9 | 17 – Fulks | 10 – Kitenge | 3 – Tied | Cajundome (914) Lafayette, LA |
| February 15, 2024 6:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Old Dominion | W 68–60 | 17–9 (9–4) | 14 – Julien | 17 – Kitenge | 6 – Fulks | Chartway Arena (5,265) Norfolk, VA |
| February 17, 2024 3:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Appalachian State | L 73–85 | 17–10 (9–5) | 23 – Kitenge | 13 – Kitenge | 4 – Fulks | Holmes Center (6,587) Boone, NC |
| February 22, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Louisiana–Monroe | L 59–66 | 17–11 (9–6) | 16 – Kitenge | 16 – Charles | 4 – Fulks | Fant–Ewing Coliseum (1,467) Monroe, LA |
| February 24, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | at Southern Miss | L 71–82 | 17–12 (9–7) | 26 – Charles | 7 – Charles | 6 – Fulks | Reed Green Coliseum (4,845) Hattiesburg, MS |
| February 28, 2024 7:00 p.m., ESPN+ | | Troy | L 73–87 | 17–13 (9–8) | 21 – Julien | 8 – Charles | 2 – Kitenge | Cajundome (1,418) Lafayette, LA |
| March 1, 2024 7:30 p.m., ESPN+ | | Southern Miss | W 77–61 | 18–13 (10–8) | 16 – Charles | 14 – Charles | 3 – Tied | Cajundome (5,011) Lafayette, LA |
| Sun Belt tournament |||||||||
| March 7, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (13) Coastal Carolina Second round | W 80–66 | 19–13 | 25 – Julien | 10 – Charles | 4 – Tied | Pensacola Bay Center (882) Pensacola, FL |
| March 9, 2024 2:00 p.m., ESPN+ | (5) | vs. (4) Arkansas State Quarterfinals | L 62–89 | 19–14 | 15 – Tied | 6 – Charles | 2 – Thomas | Pensacola Bay Center (2,059) Pensacola, FL |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source