BATON ROUGE — With one starter gone for the season because of an injury and another on the bench because of a suspension, the LSU men’s basketball team will open exhibition play Monday night at 7 p.m. against the Global Sports All-Stars.
Tickets for the game at the Maravich Assembly Center will be on sale all day Monday at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and beginning at 3:30 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center box office. The game is the second half of a double header as the LSU women will also open play with an exhibition game against a Moscow Club team at 4:15 p.m.
Brad Bridgewater, the heir apparent to replace Jabari Smith as the Tigers center, tore his left ACL on Tuesday at the end of practice and will be lost for the season. Returning starting point guard Torris Bright was declared out of the contest in a statement issued by LSU Coach John Brady on Saturday.
“Torris Bright will not play in our exhibition game on Monday because of a failure on his part to meet his obligations and responsibilities to the team that has previously been discussed with him. We will continue to monitor his progress in these areas to help him make the right decisions.”
The Global Sports team is coming off its first win in four games on the tour on Saturday night, having defeated Old Dominion, 91-82. Global Sports had five players in double figures with Jimmied Hunter getting 21, Kevin Norris 16, Ray Thompson and Matt Acres 11 and James Cotton 10.
In the other games, the team made up of former college and CBA players, Global Sports lost to Charlotte, 106-89, Georgia 79-76, and Wake Forest 106-79. The team also features Schea Cotton who was a second-team All-SEC performer a year ago for the University of Alabama.
The Tigers are expected to go with the five remaining scholarship players in the starting lineup with Collis Temple III, Lamont Roland and Jermaine Williams at guard with Brian Beshara and Ronald Dupree at the forwards. Beshara is expected to be almost at full speed after suffering from a stiff back during Thursday’s practice, causing him to miss the Friday workout.
LSU will also have an exhibition game on Nov. 13 before opening the regular season against Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 20.