BOISE, Idaho — The headline Thursday in the Idaho Statesman called the Boise NCAA First and Second Round games a “Hot Ticket.”
The 12,000-seat Taco Bell Arena is jumping with fans that are lucky to have tickets and those wanting tickets, which isn’t so unusual in the history of this city which is hosting its seventh first and second round event. This year, however, five of the teams are so-called Western teams — Arizona, Washington, Utah State, Pacific and Montana — an all-time high for Boise.
But it will be two of the Southern teams that will have the spotlight in the nightcap of the four-game first-round as LSU and UAB will do battle at approximately 8:50 p.m. CST Thursday night at an event where tickets are listed for $1,000 in the classified section of the Statesman and $142 tickets are listed on eBay for $700.
LSU and UAB are not concerned about the ticket demand, but are concerned about winning and advancing to keep their seasons alive.
LSU is the No. 6 seed in the Chicago Regional with a 20-9 overall record after sharing the Southeastern Conference Western Division title with a 12-4 record. The Blazers are 21-10 overall and the No. 11 seed in the regional after going 10-6 in Conference USA.
LSU, returning to Boise for the first time since 1992, has had off since Saturday’s dramatic 79-78 overtime loss to Kentucky in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament in Atlanta and has practiced well since arriving here.
“Our team has played well down the stretch,” said LSU head coach John Brady, taking the Tigers to his fourth straight post-season tournament and the fifth in his eight years at LSU. “We look forward to playing UAB, and we can’t wait until it gets here.”
The Tigers practiced early in the afternoon at a local gym, going over the UAB scouting report. LSU then made the mandatory appearance in front of the fans at the Taco Bell Arena, allowing the players to dunk in some drills for the fans and basically just doing show-shooting drills to get used to the arena. The team then participated in required media obligations before heading out to a local establishment for dinner.
Thursday will settle in as a regular game day, with LSU having a game-day practice in the late morning before settling in at the Double Tree Club, LSU’s team headquarters, for film session and the pre-game meal at about 3 p.m.
LSU beat UAB in the only other meeting of the teams in the 2003 Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic, 78-62. Brandon Bass had 22 points in that game to share the scoring honors with Jaime Lloreda. Darrel Mitchell had 12 points and Tack Minor 11 off the bench. The main stat of note for the Tigers was the one that gave them a 49-28 advantage in rebounds.
Under third-year coach Mike Anderson, UAB has continued to play the pressing, trapping style of defense that causes problems for opponents. LSU will try to counter with the presence of its big front court of Bass and Glen Davis.
“The number of people they play is not a concern,” Brady said in regard to his team’s apparent lack of fresh legs to battle the press. “We have managed that all year and I think we have handled it the best we can.”
Brady has tried to emphasize the one game at a time strategy and not worry about what lies ahead in the future.
“We haven’t done a lot differently,” said Brady. “We don’t need to make anything more special about this first round game. We have prepared for UAB and they know the excitement surrounding it. We have prepared to play another quality opponent.”
LSU is 19-20 overall in the NCAA Tournament, while Coach John Brady is 2-2 with the Tigers. In 2003, LSU lost to Purdue in the first round, while the 2000 team advanced to the Sweet 16 before falling. LSU has won its first game in the NCAA Tournament and advanced nine of the 17 times since its first NCAA Tournament appearance in 1953.
The game will be televised regionally, as are all NCAA Tournament games, by CBS Sports with Tim Brando and Mike Giminski on the call of the Boise games. Jim Hawthorne and Kevin Ford will have the call on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge and online at www.LSUsports.net). The NCAA Tournament games are also being regionally broadcast on the Westwood One/CBS Radio Network.
The winner of the LSU-UAB game plays the winner of the Arizona-Utah State game late Saturday afternoon.