BATON ROUGE — LSU will look to do what three ranked teams haven’t been able to in the past month when looks to upset the third-ranked Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday at noon CST.
Jefferson-Pilot Sports will televise the game, which will be broadcast for radio and the Internet (www.LSUsports.net)by the LSU Sports Network.
The hottest team in the country right now, Kentucky (19-3, 9-0) has a 13-game win streak that is the longest in the nation. In that span, the Wildcats have beat Florida, Notre Dame and Georgia — three top 20 teams — by at least 15 points each and has an overall average margin of victory of 17 points.
The Wildcats have been winning with defense. Since Southeastern Conference play began, they have held opponents to 58.7 points and 40.6 percent shooting, both SEC bests. Kentucky also leads the league in turnover margin while ranking second in rebounding margin.
However, LSU ranks fourth in the conference in shooting percentage at better than 48 percent while coming in third in turnover margin. The Tigers also boast two of the SEC’s best rebounders in Ronald Dupree and Jaime Lloreda who average 8.6 and 7.9 rebounds per game, respectively.
The Tigers (14-8, 3-7) have won two of their last three after a 1-6 league beginning, but will be looking to put together back-to-back wins for the first time since early January.
Last time out, LSU dominated Vanderbilt at home on Wednesday, using a 27-0 run and five three-pointers by Collis Temple III to jump out to a 23-point halftime advantage.
Temple is one of four Tigers averaging double-figures at 10.0 points a game. Dupree leads the group with 15.9 points per contest while Lloreda and Torris Bright average 12.0 and 10.4, respectively.
Keith Bogans leads the Wildcats with 16.5 points per game and is followed by Gerald Fitch, who adds 12.4 a game. Inside presence Marquis Estill scores 11.3 per game while Erik Daniels drops in 10.3.
Traditionally, Kentucky has owned LSU in Lexington to the tune of a 35-4 advantage. The Wildcats own a 72-21 overall advantage in the series.
The game will come nine years to the day of a historical moment in the series. On Feb. 15, 1994, Kentucky overcame a 31-point deficit to beat LSU, 99-95, in Baton Rouge. The 31 points is the biggest second-half comeback in NCAA history.