Cajun country basketball is just days away for the 337 as Louisiana men’s basketball is itching to kick off the 2024-25 season.

The Cajuns have a preseason exhibition Wednesday against Louisiana Christian at the Cajundome. They open the regular season on Nov. 4 with a home game against Kent State.

Last season, the Ragin’ Cajuns ended with a 19-14 overall record and a solid 10-8 finish in the Sun Belt Conference. In the SBC tournament, they snagged a 80-66 win against Coastal Carolina in the first round. The Cajuns couldn’t carry that over in the next round, ending their season short with an 89-62 loss to Arkansas State.

“We’re excited about the start of the season, we’ve got a good group, got a little bit of depth,” UL coach Bob Marlin said. “We’re a little banged up right now, and I don’t think everyone will see the court in this first game. But we want to encourage our fans to come out, and students to come out and support us. Looking forward to beginning the season on Wednesday.”

With the past behind them, the Cajuns are looking for a more fruitful season this go-round. They will have to strive for that without a key player in senior forward Hosana Kitenge, who suffered a season-ending non-contact injury at the beginning of October. The 6-foot-8 and 250-pound big man averaged 14 points and seven rebounds during Sun Belt play and was the lone UL player to make the preseason's All-Sun Belt Conference first team.

Outside of Kitenge, the Cajuns' next best returner is senior guard Kentrell Garnett, who averaged nine points per game and shot close to 44% from the field. UL’s other top scorers from last year, guard Kobe Julien and forward Joe Charles, transferred out, meaning new faces will have to step up.

The time to step up will be Oct. 30 when the Cajuns kick off the new season in the comforts of the Cajundome for an exhibition doubleheader with the women’s program. The men will be the second game at 7:30 p.m. CT. Here is the UL men’s basketball schedule for the 2024-25 season.

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns men's basketball 2024-25 schedule

• Oct. 30: Louisiana Christian (exhibition)

• Nov. 4: Kent State

• Nov. 7: UT Dallas

• Nov. 13: at Houston

• Nov. 19: Rice

• Nov. 22: Liberty (U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam)

• Nov. 23-25: Kansas State or George Washington (U.S. Virgin Islands Paradise Jam)

• Nov. 30: Nicholls

• Dec. 7: Louisiana Tech

• Dec. 11: Southeastern Louisiana

• Dec. 14: Lamar

• Dec. 18: App State

• Dec. 22: McNeese

• Jan. 2: at Coastal Carolina

• Jan. 4: at Georgia State

• Jan. 9: Old Dominion

• Jan. 11: ULM

• Jan. 16: at Arkansas State

• Jan. 18: at ULM

• Jan. 22: Texas State

• Jan. 25: Southern Miss

• Jan. 30: at Texas State

• Feb. 1: South Alabama

• Feb. 5: at Georgia Southern

• Feb. 8: MAC-SBC Challenge

• Feb. 12: Troy

• Feb. 15: Marshall

• Feb. 20: at Troy

• Feb. 22: at Southern Miss

• Feb. 25: Arkansas State

• Feb. 28: at South Alabama

REQUIRED READING: What channel is Louisiana- Texas State football game on? Time, TV, streaming info

REQUIRED READING: Lafayette-area football: Here are the Top 5 offensive players from Week 8

Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Check out the UL men's basketball full schedule for 2024-25 season