TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The LSU men’s basketball team, coming off a strong second half performance in a 63-59 win over Georgia in Baton Rouge Wednesday night, travels here Saturday to take on Alabama in a 6 p.m. game at Coleman Coliseum.
The Tigers and Tide will meet on SEC-TV/Fox Sports Net (Ch. 38 in the Baton Rouge area) and the radio broadcast will be available on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers are 13-4 and 3-3, equaling the best start in the SEC for an LSU team since 1994-95, while the Tide comes in 11-6 and also 3-3 in the SEC West.
The game marks the second meeting of the season between the Tide and the Tigers. LSU won 70-66 in Baton Rouge against Alabama on Jan. 10. Alabama is the overall series leader with 90 wins to LSU’s 61.
In the win over Georgia, Jaime Lloreda led the Tigers with 18 points and 12 rebounds, while Brandon Bass got his scoring punch back with 17 points. Darrel Mitchell, off the bench, had 12 points. LSU held Georgia to 1-of-14 shooting from beyond the three-point arc, after holding South Carolina to 1-of-23 from the arc last Saturday.
Ironically, Alabama leads the SEC (all games) in three-point field goal percentage at 37.1 percent coming into the LSU game.
“I think our team has really defended and rebounded well the last few games. We’ve played extremely hard our last two times out. We just have not been very consistent on making timely shots. We did more of that (Wednesday), including the game winner. Hopefully, we can continue doing what we are doing on the boards and on defense and make a few more shots from the perimeter.”
Lloreda, who leads the league in rebounds and is second in the nation, comes in averaging 17.6 points per game to go with 11.8 rebounds a contest. Bass is second on the team in scoring and rebounding at 13.0 points per game and 7.4 rebounds a contest. Mitchell is the other double figure scorer for LSU with an average of 10.6 points per game.
After this game, the Tigers come home for a week of games, taking on Tennessee at 7 p.m. in Baton Rouge in the Maravich Assembly Center. LSU will also be at home on Saturday, Feb. 4, for a Noon game with Arkansas. Tickets for both games are on sale at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office or on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.