NCAA basketball on Friday afternoon and we will see the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns take on the Creighton Blue Jays in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament, which is being played at the AT&T Center in San Antonio, Texas. The game has a start time of 3:10 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on TruTv. Vegas odds have the Bluejays listed as 14 point favorites, while the total sits at 154.5.
Stat Pack: Louisiana got to the Big Dance by upsetting the Georgia state panthers in the finals of the Sun Belt Tournament. The Ragin Cajuns have now won 4 in a row and are 23-11 on the year. Louisiana averages a healthy 81.4 ppg (13th), on 46.7% shooting overall (53rd) and 37.0% from long range (73rd), but this is a poor free throw shooting team, hitting just 67.1% of their freebies to rank 266th. The offense is led by Elfrin Payton, who averages 19.1 ppg. Close behind Payton is Shawn Long, who scores 18.7 ppg, while leading the team in rebounds at 10.5 rpg and blocks with 89. Defense on this team is pretty much non-existent as they come in ranked 301st in points allowed (75.1 ppg) and 215th in defensive FG% (44.4%). They are a good rebounding team as they pull down 38.3 boards per game to rank 34th in the nation.
The Creighton Bluejays got to the big dance with an at-large bid. The Bluejays did make it to the finals of the Big east Tournament, but were upset in that game by the Providence Friars. Creighton is now 26-7 on the year. Creighton is one of the top offensive teams in the nation, as they rank 22nd in scoring (79.5 ppg), 4th in shooting (49.9%) and 1st in 3 point shooting (42.2%), plus they are also 16th in free throw shooting (75.2%). The offense is led by the best player in the nation in Doug McDermott, who averages 26.9 ppg, while also leading the team in rebounding at 7.0 rpg. Ethan Wragge is the only other player on the team that averages in double figures for the Bluejays at 10.5 ppg. Wragge (47.3%) and McDermott (45.4%) are both deadly from long range, while both players also hit 83% or better from the free throw line. Defensively this is a solid team as they allow just 67.2 ppg on 41.9% shooting.
Pick: This has a chance to be a high scoring game. Louisiana will look to push tempo and they do average 81.4 ppg, but because of their pace they also allow 75.1 ppg. Now they take on a Creighton team that averages a solid 79.5 ppg on the year and is the top 3 point shooting team. I can easily see this game reach the 160's
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