ATHENS, Ga. — It will be a rare Sunday contest for the LSU men’s basketball team when they take on the Georgia Bulldogs at Stegeman Coliseum.
The LSU Tigers, coming off a big non-conference win over Centenary on Wednesday, but winless in the Southeastern Conference will face a Georgia team on the rise after knocking off back-to-back ranked teams on the road at Ole Miss and at Florida.
LSU is 10-4 overall, 0-3 in the league, while Georgia is now 10-7 and suddenly 3-1 and in second in the SEC West. Tipoff is schedules for 11:30 a.m. CST.
The game will be broadcast on radio on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. The game will also be televised by the league’s syndicator, Jefferson Pilot Sports (WAFB in Baton Rouge). The game will also be seen on JP affiliates in Alexandria, Lafayette, Monroe, New Orleans and Shreveport in the state of Louisiana.
The Tigers will be looking for a defensive effort similar to the one which LSU got on Wednesday night when Collis Temple helped hold Centenary’s Ronnie McCollum, the nation’s leading scorer, to half of his nation’s leading 28-point per game scoring average. Ronald Dupree had his ninth double double of the season with 21 points and 15 rebounds as all five starters scored in double figures in the 85-44 win.
Dupree is second in the league in scoring average at 18.6 points per game and the league’s overall rebounding leader at 9.9 a game.
Overall Georgia has won three straight league games, having also defeated Auburn in overtime in Athens, the Bulldogs have already matched their total win total of a season ago when Jim Harrick’s first Georgia team won 10 games overall and three in the league. The Bulldogs feel they are ready to make a run as they play four of the next five games at the cozy confines of Stegeman Coliseum.
Ezra Williams has been one of the spark plugs for Georgia, averaging 19 points through the first four SEC games. D. A. Layne is sixth in the conference in scoring at 16.1 points per game.
When LSU defeated Georgia last year in Baton Rouge, it marked the end of a 10-game winning streak for the Bulldogs. However, the Tigers lead the overall series, 52-36, but Georgia has won the last four games in Athens.
The Tigers of Coach John Brady will remain on the road Wednesday night at Mississippi State before returning home on Saturday for a 4 p.m. game at the Assembly Center against Arkansas. The 1981 Final Four team will be having its 20th reunion at the game and the former LSU players will be introduced at timeouts throughout the contest.