BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team, coming off a two-win week, which gave them one of its best months of play in the Southeastern Conference in January in several years, comes home for two games this week, beginning Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Assembly Center against Tennessee.
Tickets are still available for the game at $12 each (students free with their LSU identification cards) at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and beginning 90 minutes prior to tip off at the upper ticket windows of the Assembly Center. There is no television for the game and the radio broadcast can be heard in Louisiana on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers won at home against Georgia, 63-59, and then won in Tuscaloosa, 60-54, over Alabama, putting LSU in second place in the SEC Western Division at 4-3, 14-4 overall. Tennessee Saturday was a big winner over the University of Florida, 65-63. The Volunteers are tied for fourth in the East at 3-4 and are 11-6 overall.
“It was a good win for us on Saturday at Alabama,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “Now we’ve got two at home. We’ve now got to protect the home floor. Tennessee’s coming off a big win against Florida. There’s nothing to take for granted in this league. If you’re home or on the road, you have to play your best every night.”
The Tigers have become a stubborn defensive team with a streak of 16 games where no opponent has scored more than 66 points. The Tigers are also undefeated in games in which they have scored at least 60 points.
“Every year we try to base our team on defending and rebounding,” said Brady. “You prepare your team to guard the other team, and it takes their intensity and mentality to be able to get it done. As we get better offensively, positive thing should happen to us.”
Last year, positive things happened in Knoxville as the senior laden LSU team, on its drive to an NCAA Tournament birth, hit a school record 17 three-pointers in giving LSU it’s first win over the Volunteers in eight games. Coach Buzz Peterson’s team features the second leading scorer in the conference in Steve McFadgon at 19 points a game.
“Tennessee, in my opinion, is extremely talented,” said Brady. “They’re an excellent free-throw shooting team. We have to defend them intelligently and not foul them needlessly. They’ve rebounded well in their wins. Those are two things we’re going to put a premium on.”
The game is billed as another “Wild Wednesday” at the Assembly Center with local radio station Y100, offering one lucky fan a chance to earn tickets to the Academy of Country Music Awards later this year in Las Vegas. Also performing at the half will be the Dragon Master Showcase out of New Orleans, a group featuring both break- dancing and acrobatics.
LSU after the Tennessee game, will next play on Saturday at noon against Arkansas.