BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team will go after its fifth straight Southeastern Conference win on Saturday as the Tigers close out their regular season at 1 p.m. against Alabama at the Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be broadcast across the South on the LSU Sports Network (98.1 FM in Baton Rouge). The contest will also be televised to a regional audience by Jefferson Pilot (cable ch. 7 in Baton Rouge).
Less than 1,000 tickets remain for the contest. Tickets can be purchased at the Maravich Assembly Center for $10 each starting at 11 a.m. on Saturday. Fans purchasing tickets to the basketball game on Saturday can also buy tickets to the LSU-Winthrop baseball game at 3:30 p.m. on at Alex Box Stadium for $1. The Alex Box ticket office opens at 1:30 p.m. and fans wanting to purchase $1 tickets for the baseball game must present their basketball ticket stub.
The first 2,500 fans in the arena on Saturday will receive free-of-charge the fourth and final set of the 2003 LSU basketball trading cards. At halftime, Quick Change will entertain fans in what has become one of the most anticipated halftime shows of the year.
LSU stands at 18-9 overall and 7-8 in SEC action after a 77-64 win over Ole Miss on Wednesday. LSU’s last four wins have all come by double-figures, including a 94-63 win over Auburn, an 88-67 victory over Tennessee and a 75-56 win over Arkansas.
Alabama enters the game with a 17-9 overall mark and a 7-8 league record. Earlier this year, Alabama posted a 75-66 win over the Tigers in Tuscaloosa.
Saturday’s game will mark the final home contest for LSU’s six seniors, including three of the top players in school history in Ronald Dupree, Torris Bright and Collis Temple III. Other seniors include Brad Bridgewater, Thomas Davis and Brian Green.
LSU’s senior class will be honored with a pre-game ceremony beginning at approximately 12:45 p.m.
LSU’s senior class has combined to win 78 games in their four years in Baton Rouge, including a 28-6 mark in 1999-2000 and a 19-15 record last year. With two more wins in 2002-03, this year’s senior class will be the first at LSU to average 20 wins over a four-year period in a decade.
The Tiger starting lineup against Alabama will include 6-foot-7 Dupree (16.1 points, 7.6 rebounds) and 6-9 junior Jaime Lloreda (12.0 ppg, 8.4 rpg) at the forward positions, and 6-4 Bright (11.2 ppg, 3.3 rpg), 6-7 Temple (10.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg) and 6-2 sophomore Xavier Whipple (2.5 ppg, 1.1 rpg) at the guard spots.
Alabama will counter with a lineup that features 6-8 senior forward Erwin Dudley (15.3 ppg, 9.7 rpg) and 6-1 sophomore guard Mo Williams (15.6 ppg, 4.0 rpg).