BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers hope they can find the spark that led them to two wins over Top 10-ranked teams already this season as they face No. 5 Florida in a battle of Southeastern Conference squads Tuesday night at 8 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be nationally cablecast on ESPN and will be broadcast in Louisiana on the LSU Sports Network and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. Tickets are available for $10 at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. The upper ticket windows at the Assembly Center will open at 6 p.m.
It is John Brady Bobblehead Doll night, presented by game sponsor United Parcel Service. The first 2,000 paid fans in the arena will receive a free John Brady Bobblehead Doll. Also one lucky fan will have the chance to shoot for $10,000 in the Eagle 98.1 half-court shot. At halftime, Tom Silver, known as the NBA Hypnotist, will entertain.
LSU is 12-5 on the season, 1-4 in the Southeastern Conference, and the Tigers have wins over No. 1 Arizona (Dec. 21) and No. 7 Mississippi State (Jan. 11). Since the Mississippi State game, the Tigers have lost three straight league games to Ole Miss, Arkansas and Mississippi State, although in the rematch with the Bulldogs last Saturday in Starkville, the Tigers had the ball and a chance to tie the game in the final seven seconds after being down 12 points with 53 seconds to play.
Florida is 16-2 on the season and 5-0 in the SEC and has been off since Wednesday when the Gators downed Vanderbilt, 87-75.
“I think Florida is playing well as anybody in the league, particularly from an offensive standpoint,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “We need a good plan defensively to slow down Florida. It’s a big challenge for us. We’re excited about the game. We’ve got ESPN at our place and we’re ready for it.”
The Tigers will go with its usual starting lineup of guards Torris Bright, Collis Temple III and Antonio Hudson and forwards Ronald Dupree and Jaime Lloreda.
“Going to Baton Rouge, we’ll have our hands full,” said Florida Coach Billy Donovan. “Seeing LSU on film, their starting five is as good as any I’ve seen. We’ll have to play our best to win.”
Florida’s Matt Bonner leads the Gator starters, averaging 14.9 points per game, just ahead of freshman Matt Walsh, averaging 14.8 points a game.
Two years ago, the teams met at the Maravich Assembly Center in another ESPN Tuesday night battle. Florida made two free throws in the final second to force overtime, eventually winning, 81-74. Last year, Florida dominated the contest in Gainesville, winning 102-70.
Following this game, LSU goes on the road again on Saturday to Tuscaloosa to face Alabama in a 4 p.m. game on SEC-TV (Fox Sports South and Southwest).