Saturday, March 1st, 8:05 p.m. (et)

FACTS & STATS: Site: Cajundome (12,800) -- Lafayette, Louisiana. Television: None. Home Record: Denver 9-3, ULL 7-5. Away Record: Denver 0-14, ULL 6-8. Neutral Record: Denver 2-0, ULL 1-1. Conference Record: Denver 7-10, ULL 10-7. Series Record: UL-Lafayette leads, 14-5.

GAME NOTES: The UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns try to climb over the .500 mark tonight, as they face off with the Denver Pioneers in Sun Belt Conference play. The Cajuns have come on strong down the stretch, capturing wins in four of their past five outings. On Thursday, the team used a solid defensive performance to slip past North Texas, 63-58. With the win, ULL pulled to .500 overall at 14-14 and improved to 10-7 in conference play. As for Denver, it has struggled of late and is currently riding a five-game losing streak. On Thursday, the team remained winless on the road (0-14) with a 66-55 setback at Arkansas-Little Rock. With the loss, the Pioneers dropped to 11-17 overall and 7-10 in league action. As for the all-time series, ULL owns a 14-5 advantage over Denver, although the Pioneers posted a 63-44 win in the first meeting this season.

The Pioneers were dominated on the glass, 28-18, including 12-6 at the offensive end, as they were defeated by UALR on Thursday. Both teams drained seven three-pointers in the contest, but it took Denver seven more attempts to do so. Adam Tanner led the squad in the setback with 20 points, while Nigel Peter-Denman had 14 points on 4-of-4 three-pointers. For the season, Tanner leads the team in scoring at 11.1 ppg and he is also handing out 2.9 apg. He is the only player scoring in double digits for Denver, which is posting 56.7 ppg on 46.2 percent shooting from the field this season.

The Cajuns did it with defense on Thursday, as they held North Texas to a dismal 32.8 percent shooting performance from the floor in a winning cause. ULL did its damage from the foul line, where it converted 20-of-27 attempts. Randell Daigle led the way with 17 points, while Travis Bureau chipped in with 12 points of his own. For the season, ULL is just one of three teams not to have any players scoring in double figures. Elijah Millsap is the closest to double digits with 9.7 ppg and he also leads ULL in rebounding (5.4 rpg) and steals (41). Overall, the Cajuns are producing 65.5 ppg, while limiting their foes to 66.2 ppg.

The Cajuns are playing at a high level now and they should be able to outlast a slumping Denver club which has yet to win a true road game this season.

Predicted Outcome

UL-Lafayette 60, Denver 50