Men’s Basketball: Johnson Tabbed As Sun Belt MBB Player of the Week

Junior forward posted seventh 20-point game of 2019-20 season

Matt Sullivan, Associate Director of Athletics Communications

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NEW ORLEANS – After posting a career-high in scoring and helping the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns to a victory over in-state opponent ULM, junior forward Jalen Johnson was tabbed on Monday as the Sun Belt Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Week in an announcement by the league office.
 
Johnson, a Baton Rouge native, scored a career-high 27 points on 7 of 10 shooting in an 81-60 win over ULM last Saturday at the Cajundome. Johnson went 3-for-6 from behind the 3-point line and was 10-for-12 from the free throw line as he helped Louisiana snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 35-4 all-time against ULM in games played in Lafayette.
 
The former University Lab product scored 19 points in the first half as Louisiana built a 36-27 lead at the break. Johnson pulled down a team-high seven rebounds while blocking three shots with two assists and two steals in 37 minutes of play.
 
In his first season on the court for Louisiana, Johnson is averaging a team-high 15.4 points and 6.7 rebounds per game. The 6-foot-7 forward ranks in the top-10 among Sun Belt Conference players in points, rebounds, field goal percentage (.446), free throw percentage (.821) and minutes played (34.0).
 
The award was the first for Johnson in his career. Johnson became the first Ragin’ Cajuns player to claim the league’s weekly honors since JaKeenan Gant was named the Sun Belt Player of the Week on Jan. 28, 2019.
 
Louisiana will return to action on Thursday when it travels to face UT Arlington in a 7 p.m. contest at College Park Center.