BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team goes to Auburn Saturday for a 3 p.m. game at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum in a winning frame of mind.
The Tigers are coming off a 71-58 win over South Carolina Wednesday night at the Maravich Assembly Center, a game in which the Tigers showed a renewed commitment to rebounding and defense. More important the game broke a five game losing streak in the SEC for LSU (13-7, 2-6).
Auburn on the other hand is the leader in the SEC West with a 5-3 record (16-5 overall). Auburn won its first four games in the league, then lost three straight before rebounding to right its ship with a 77-71 win over Ole Miss Wednesday night at Auburn. It’s just another chapter in the crazy SEC race of 2003.
“Everybody right now is fighting for position in the SEC,” said Auburn Coach Cliff Ellis. “It’s always a tough game when Auburn and LSU play. I have not seen the league before, as it is this year. I saw it in the ACC top-to-bottom like this, but never before in the SEC until this year. We are in first place now and the other half still to go. I can’t even imagine what the SEC Tournament will be like.”
LSU held the Gamecocks Wednesday night to 58 points and out rebounded USC, 42-26. Jaime Lloreda, off the LSU bench, played 29 minutes and had 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Ronald Dupree, the SEC leader in double-doubles, had 17 points and 10 boards. Collis Temple III, who was presented his 1,000-point basketball prior to the game, upped his career total more with a solid 17-point effort.
“I was proud of our team for going out and getting a win,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “We hustled and got a lot of loose balls, rebounded well and got up and down the floor in transition. We will have to be better on the road at Auburn than we were (against USC) if we want to win. We’ve got to figure out a way to score more and will have to play well to have a chance to win.”
Ole Miss led Auburn at the half, 36-35, before the home Tigers came back to win the game. Marquis Daniels led Auburn with 20 points, while Lewis Monroe added 16.
LSU returns home after this game to play Vanderbilt Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Maravich Assembly Center.