BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers, one of 36 undefeated Division I basketball teams in the early going of the season, are ranked high in first report of NCAA men’s basketball statistics announced on Tuesday.
The Tigers, 4-0 on the season, as a team in the ranking of 326 teams, is second in the country in field goal percentage at 55.2 percent, behind Chattanooga’s 56.8 percent. The Tigers lead the nation in three-point field goal percentage at 48.0 percent. The Tigers are third in the SEC and 26th in the nation in scoring offense, scoring 82.8 points per game. LSU’s next opponent on Dec. 16 (Utah) leads the nation in scoring defense at 48.2 points per game.
Senior Jaime Lloreda, off three big time performances highlighted by a 30 point-21 rebound effort against McNeese State, is third in the country in scoring average at 26.3 points per game. Thurman Zimmerman of South Carolina State is the leader at 34.7 points per game. Lloreda is fourth in the nation in field goal percentage at 73.7 percent with Jackson State’s Leonard Taylor the nation’s leader at 81.8 percent.
Lloreda also came up high in the first national rebound totals, ranking second in the nation in rebounds per game average at 12.7 a game. Zimmerman from South Carolina State is again the leader in this category at 14.3 a contest.
Tiger freshman Brandon Bass is also among the leaders, listed as 20th in blocks at 3.3 a contest.
The Tigers, after a 17-day break, go back to action on Tuesday, Dec. 16 with a nationally televised ESPN contest against Coach Rick Majerus and the University of Utah. The tip at the Maravich Assembly Center is set for 8 p.m. and tickets are on sale at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and online at www.LSUsports.net.
The game will be the first of three in an eight-day period prior to Christmas as the Tigers take on Southern Mississippi at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 20 and Tulane will visit the Assembly Center for the first time since 1982 on Dec. 23 at 7 p.m.