BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers with a game and a victory under their belt after playing for the first time in two weeks, go right back to action Monday at the Pete Maravich Center against McNeese State University.
The Tigers and Cowboys will meet in the final home game of the 2004 portion of the schedule at 7 p.m. Tickets are $12 and 10 and are available online at www.LSUsports.net or at the upper ticket windows of the Maravich Center beginning at 5:30 p.m. on Monday evening. There is no television for the contest and the radio broadcast of the game will be available on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM) and at www.LSUsports.net.
The Tigers are 4-1 on the year after Saturday’s 83-74 win over Northwestern State. In the game, all five LSU starters were in double figures for the second time this season as Brandon Bass had his eighth career double-double with 22 points and a career high 14 rebounds to lead LSU. Darrel Mitchell had his third career 20-point game, while Tack Minor and Antonio Hudson each added 12 and Glen Davis 10. The game was the first after two weeks off for dead week and final exams at the school.
“I thought our team held in there together and didn’t play their best, but were able to win the game,” said LSU Coach John Brady.
LSU shot 44 percent from the field, but was out shot by the Demons, who hit 46 percent. LSU out rebounded Northwestern State, losers for the third time this year after five straight wins, 40-32. Again, the Tigers were able to get to the line and they continued to have success at the charity stripe, making 30-of-40 for 75 percent. As a team through five games, LSU is making 77.7 percent of its free throw attempts.
“We got to the foul line 40 times, which means we’re either driving the ball to goal pretty well against whatever defense they ran and getting fouled or throwing the ball to your post men and getting fouled. That’s what the stats bear out in that way,” said Brady.
McNeese State is 3-2 on the year, coming in to the game off a 93-54 win over Jarvis Christian back on Dec. 1 The Cowboys of Coach Tic Price also had five players in that game in double figures, led by Edward Garriet with 20 and Aldrynn Wardell with 18. McNeese State shot 61 percent from the floor in that win (38-of-62).
This will be LSU’s final game at home against a Louisiana school and will mean that LSU’s long 16-year home win streak of 51 games against state schools will be on the line one final time. The Tigers are 4-0 this year against Louisiana competition.
LSU, following this game, will not be back in Baton Rouge for a game for 29 days until a Jan. 12 conference home opening contest against South Carolina. Following Monday’s game, LSU will next play at Biloxi in the Gulf Coast Coliseum, Saturday at 2 p.m. against Southern Miss. (A note that Cox Sports Television as previously announced will not televise the game. There will be no television for the contest.)
The Tigers will also travel to Houston (Dec. 21) before taking a break for Christmas and resuming action Dec. 30 in the New Orleans Arena against Florida State in the Nokia Sugar Bowl basketball classic. The Tigers start the new year in Salt Lake City, meeting Utah on Dec. 3 before returning to open Southeastern Conference in Tuscaloosa against Alabama on Jan. 8.
Regis Koundjia, who missed the game on Saturday night for what Coach Brady called a “personal problem,” was back at practice Sunday evening and participated fully in the practice. Coach Brady said afterwards that he had met with Koundjia and everything is “fine” with the sophomore forward who will be back in uniform for Monday’s game.