GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The games don’t get any easier for John Brady‘s LSU Tigers just because they won a Southeastern Conference game on Sunday.
The Tigers didn’t have too long to celebrate the stirring 75-69 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks at the Maravich Assembly Center before they returned to the practice floor late Monday morning to begin preparation for Wednesday’s 7 p.m. EST (6 p.m. CST) contest with the Florida Gators at the Stephen O’Connell Center.
The Tigers (11-4, 1-1) must face off against the nation’s second-ranked team in Florida which is 14-1 and 3-0 in the SEC, including road wins at Auburn and Vanderbilt.
“Florida will be another challenge for us and they are playing as well as anyone in the league,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “On the road in this league is difficult anyway, particularly when you’re playing the No. 2 ranked team in the country.
“We are going to have to get good bench production and better production from the other guys on the team in order to go down there and win it,” said LSU’s fifth-year coach.
LSU is expected to go with its set lineup of Torris Bright (13.5 ppg) and Collis Temple III (17.1 ppg) at the guards with Brad Bridgewater (6.4 ppg), Jermaine Williams (6.1 ppg) and Ronald Dupree (16.7 ppg) at the forwards.
The Florida lineup is possibly in a state of change after point guard Jason Hamilton separated his shoulder in the Vanderbilt gamer. He is doubtful for the LSU contest which means more of the scoring load will probably fall to top players Brett Nelson (14.9 ppg), Matt Bonner (16.5 ppg) and center Udonis Haslem (15.8 ppg).
“Every game is a new challenge for our basketball team,” said Florida Gators coach Billy Donovan. “LSU is a team I have a great amount of respect for.
Coach Brad has his kids ready to play ever game. They are coming off a big win against Arkansas and I will have to have my team ready to play.
The LSU-Florida game will not be televised live, but will be available on the Sunshine Network in Florida on tape delay. The radio broadcast of the game will be available on the LSU Sports Network affiliates (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.lsusports.net.
The Tigers return home Saturday to play Auburn in a regionally televised game that will be played at 1 p.m. in the Maravich Assembly Center. The game is listed on the schedule cards and some tickets as at 3 p.m., but the game was moved to 1 p.m. following the movement of the NFL playoffs.