STARKVILLE, Miss. — The LSU Tigers look to sustain the effort the team gave against Georgia Sunday and hopes that it pays off in a victory against the Mississippi State Bulldogs here Wednesday night at Humphrey Coliseum.
The Tigers and Bulldogs meet at 7 p.m. with the game broadcast on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge). The radio broadcast will also be available on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. There will be no television coverage of the contest.
The Tigers are coming into the contest off a 68-63 losing decision at Georgia on Sunday, a game in which LSU showed a renewed enthusiasm and a desire to play for the entire 40 minutes with a lot of heart. But LSU led for a majority of the game and had chances to take the lead back in the final two minutes before falling. Ronald Dupree and Torris Bright led LSU with 18 points each and Collis Temple had 14 for the Tigers.
Minutes added up for the starting five in the Georgia game as the five scholarship players played no less than 35 minutes with Jermaine Williams in the game for the entire 40. Charlie Thompson and Jason Wilson each contributed nine minutes, but the Tigers could have used walk-on Robert Royal, the football tight end that played in the previous three games. Royal did not travel to Georgia while nursing a reoccurring ankle injury suffered late in the football season.
Royal was being looked at by team doctors earlier this week and may make the trip to Starkville for the game.
Dupree comes into the contest as the league’s second-leading scorer (18.6 ppg) and leading rebounded (9.8 rpg) as he appears to be settling into a battle for first and second as the top two in each category begin to pull away a bit. Dupree has had a league leading nine double-doubles, most recently against Centenary one Wednesday ago when he had 21 points and 15 rebounds.
LSU comes into the contest with a 10-5 overall record and 0-4 in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
Mississippi State, off an 84-79 loss on Saturday at Knoxville, is also 10-5 overall, but 1-3 in the SEC West having secured a league win over Arkansas, 87-73, to open conference play.
Antonio Jackson, the senior guard averaging 13.3 points per game and 4.2 assists, leads the Bulldogs. Inside, where the Tigers have the most problem defending, look for MSU to go to Robert Jackson, the 6-8, junior who is averaging 12.6 points and 9.1 rebounds a contest.
The Tigers return home for a 4 p.m. game Saturday at the Maravich Assembly Center against Arkansas.