BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team looks to get back on the winning track Wednesday night, traveling to Oxford, Miss., to take on the Ole Miss Rebels at the Tad Smith Coliseum at 7 p.m.
There is no television for the event, but the game will be broadcast on radio in Louisiana on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers are coming off a 64-54 loss to Mississippi State on Saturday that dropped the LSU record to 12-2 and 2-1 in the SEC. Ole Miss fell to Arkansas at Fayetteville on Saturday, 86-78, knocking the Rebels to 8-6 and 0-3 in the league.
The Tigers fell behind by as much as 19 in the contest against mostly zone defense by Mississippi State, before getting their play-making skills back together in the second half to rally to take a lead in the final seven minutes.
LSU enters the game with three straight road wins in the league dating back to last season, including a league opening night win at Fayetteville. One of the three wins was at Ole Miss last year, LSU’s first triumph at the Coliseum since 2000.
Justin Reed, the Ole Miss senior from Jackson, leads the starters in scoring at 18.1 points a game and 8.3 rebounds a game.
“He’s been a quality player there,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “He’s a fine young man who plays extremely hard. He’s a tough guy to guard. He’s going to be a difficult match up for us. He plays all over the floor. Ole Miss is extremely tough at home. We’re going to really have to play well and play smart to have a chance to win on the road.”
LSU expects to go with its same lineup of Xavier Whipple (4.6 ppg, 3.3 apg) and Antonio Hudson (11.2 ppg, 4.6 rpg) at guards and forwards Regis Koundjia (4.1 ppg, 3.9 rpg), Brandon Bass (13.6 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and Jaime Lloreda (17.7 ppg, 11.6 rpg). Lloreda continues to be the league leader in rebounds and stands second in the nation.
After Wednesday’s game, LSU will return home and make a quick turn around, leaving Friday for a 6:30 p.m. CST day at the Colonial Center in Columbia against the University of South Carolina. LSU’s next home game is Jan. 28 against Georgia.