BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team, trying to rally after losing a Southeastern Conference game at home to Ole Miss and then a winnable road game at Arkansas, begins a tough three-game stretch of nationally ranked opponents as the Tigers travel to Starkville for a 2 p.m. Saturday game with Mississippi State.
The game will be televised in the Southeast on JP sports (WAFB-TV in Baton Rouge) and the radio broadcast will be heard throughout Louisiana on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
The two teams are meeting quickly for the second time in conference play after LSU upset the then seventh-ranked Bulldogs, 85-72, in Baton Rouge two weeks ago. That was LSU’s second win over a top-10 ranked team in the AP poll this season and came at a time that while LSU was giving up lots of points, they were able to make up for it with strong offense.
But in the two losses, the Tigers have struggled to find their offensive rhythm while still surrendering too many points. LSU is just 4-for-29 from the arc the last two games and shot just 40 percent from the free throw line in the eight-point loss to Arkansas on Wednesday night.
“Our biggest problem right now is on defense,” said LSU Coach John Brady of his Tigers, 12-4 overall and 1-3 in the conference. “In SEC play, we haven’t really been able to stop anybody. If we don’t start doing that, it’s going to be tough to be the team we want to be. We beat Mississippi State at LSU two weeks ago, but that was because we played a perfect game offensively. We are going to have to defend and play well to win on Saturday.”
Mississippi State, 11-4 overall and 1-3 in the league, got its first league win, 64-48, at home Wednesday night against South Carolina.
“It was nice to finally get a conference win,” said Mississippi State head coach Rick Stansbury. “There is no doubt our confidence has been shaken. LSU is coming in off a tough loss. They have a good team. They beat us on the backboards the first time we played. That doesn’t happen very often. They played very well. But we were on the road and weren’t sure until game time if Mario Austin was even going to be able to play. This time we are at home and Mario definitely will play.”
The Tigers return to the Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday night for an ESPN 8 p.m. contest with nationally ranked Florida. Tickets for the game are on sale at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.