Vegas Line at this writing: Sam Houston StateĀ -6 (148.5)
Today we feature an interesting second round matchup out of the CIT with 21-13 (13-7) UL Lafayette traveling to Huntsville, Texas to face 26-8 (15-3) Sam Houston State. The Cajuns had won seven straight before being derailed in the Sunbelt Conference final by Cinderella Georgia State. They won their first round game spanking Incarnate Word (-2.5) on the road. Sam Houston State won 12 of their final 15 with two of those losses coming to Southland Champion Stephen F. Austin. The Bearkats pounded NC Wilmington 87-71 on this floor as an eight-point favorite.
UL Lafayette is ranked 143 in the RPI and played four opponents of any note in their non-conference schedule losing to Tulsa (11), Auburn (25) and Wisc Milwaukee by 13. The Cajuns beat Oral Roberts by 24 as a +5.5 point dog in a game where they held the Golden Eagles to just 26% from the field.
Sam Houston State finished 82nd in the RPI playing a much more ambitious non-conference slate that featured losses to UNLV (2), Wofford (11), Texas A&M (3) and LSU (9). They beat South Dakota, Fairfield and hammered Eastern Washington by 24 here. The Kats figured on big things this year returning four starters off last year’s 24
win club but were never able to beat Austin who accounted for three of the Kats eight losses.
UL Lafayette:
The Cajuns play a run and gun type of offense and as a result, ULL scores and gives up a lot of points. The Rajuns 77.5 ppg. was tops in the Sunbelt Conference and 14th nationally. The run people in and out and have eight players averaging better than five ppg. Sahwn Long is a junior three-year 6’9, 245 starter that averages 16.2/10.2 this year
and 16.8/10.4 in his 99 game ULL career. F Brian Williams is an Oklahoma State transfer and played three years for the Cowboys. He averages 10.3/3.7 here giving UL Lafayette a formidable front court by smaller mid-major standards.
Sam Houston State:
Sam Houston also likes to get up and down but while the Cajuns freestyle, the Bearkats play some pretty good defense. The Kats 74.2 ppg is fourth in the Southland and 27th nationally. Sam Houston allows just 59.7 ppg., tops in the Southland and 18th nationally. Sam Houston epitomizes balanced scoring with seven players averaging 10.5 to 8.1 ppg. Guard Demarcus Gatlin (10.5, 4.8, 2.0) leads in scoring with Jabari Peters (10.0, 4.7, 2.7) posting almost identical numbers as his backcourt mate. The Bearkats are an awful three-point shooting team (33%) and prefer to get points in transition.
Allen’s Angles
ULL is 0-5 the L3 years as a road dog of 3-6 points
The Ragin Cajuns are 8-3 ATS the l3 in all tournament games, 3-1 this year
The Over is 5-2 this year when ULL is getting points
The Under is 6-3 this year when the Cajuns play winning records
The Bearkats are 6-2 ATS the L3 year when favored, 2-1 this year
Sam Houston is 4-1 ATS in non-conference games this year
SHS is 36-9 straight in all home games the L3 years
The Over is 3-0 this year when Sam Houston has a posted total
* Sam Houston Note: The Southland Conference is not considered a board conference so there are rarely lines on these teams other than tournaments and in non-conference play