Tennessee Volunteers look to handle the upset hopeful Ragin’ Cajuns

The No. 4 seeded Tennessee Volunteers (23-10) are set to face the No. 13 seeded Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (26-7) in the first round of the 2023 NCAA tournament on Thursday, March 16.

The two teams will face each other inside the Amway Center in Orlando, Fla. with an estimated tipoff time of 7:40 P.M. EST.

Tennessee Volunteers look to handle the upset hopeful Ragin’ Cajuns

After defeating No. 13 Ole Miss in the second round of the SEC Tournament, the Volunteers were later defeated in the quarterfinals by the No. 4 seeded Missouri Tigers.

Tennessee went 10-26 from behind the three-point line and shot 44.6% from the field in that game, and was outscored 79-71.

The Tennessee Volunteers are not playing its greatest basketball at the moment as they have lost two out of its last three games.

Tennessee is without its second-leading points scorer, Zakai Zeigler, for the rest of the season due to an ACL tear he suffered back on Feb. 28 against the Arkansas Razorbacks.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are on a better streak as they have won five straight games and swept the Sun Belt Tournament.

Defeating Georgia Southern (17-16), Texas State (16-19), and South Alabama (19-16) in the Sun Belt Tournament, the Ragin’ Cajuns were able to secure its first conference tournament win since 2014.

In the Sun Belt Tournament championship, Louisiana shot 49.1% from the field and went 8-17 from the three-point line, ultimately defeating South Alabama 71-66.

Themus Fulks, a sophomore from Winston-Salem, N.C. led the Ragin’ Cajuns in points in the final game with 23.

Although Fulks led the team in points in the championship, he does not lead the team in points per game, as Jordan Brown holds that title.

Brown is averaging 19.1 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and 1.7 assists per game.

If Tennessee manages to hold off the upset-hopeful Ragin’ Cajuns, they will play the winner of the Duke and Oral Roberts game.

Duke, who is the No. 5 seed, has won nine straight games, including the 2023 ACC Tournament in Greensboro, N.C., and is arguably playing its best basketball of the season right now.

Although Oral Roberts is a No. 12 seed, they should not be overlooked as they are also playing tremendous basketball right now, winning its last 17 games.

The Golden Eagles secured the Summit League Tournament championship defeating North Dakota State, 92-58.

The Volunteers cannot look at the second round yet though, as the Ragin’ Cajuns are looking to do some damage and take advantage of the absence of Zeigler.

Ragin’ Cajuns and the Volunteers, ladies, and gentlemen, this is March.