HARTFORD, Conn. — The LSU Tigers will be looking to pull off a major upset Saturday when they travel to Hartford to take on the nation’s No. 2-ranked college basketball team, the Connecticut Huskies in a regionally-televised game at the Hartford Civic Center at 3 p.m. CST.
The game will be broadcast by CBS Sports in much of the country as part of men’s split-national game that concludes a tripleheader broadcast that begins earlier in the morning with the LSU women’s game at Baton Rouge against Minnesota. The radio broadcast of the contest will be available on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and to subscribers of the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net.
The Tigers are 8-4 and coming off a somewhat sluggish win over Tulane, 75-58, Tuesday at the Maravich Center. That same night, UConn lost for the first time in 12 games, falling to Marquette, 94-79, in the Big East Conference opener for both teams.
LSU is 2-12 all-time against teams ranked No. 2 in the AP polls, with the wins against Kentucky in the 1980 finals of the Southeastern Conference tournament and 1989 when LSU beat Georgetown, 82-80, in the Louisiana Superdome.
LSU Coach John Brady knows his Tigers are going into a very tough situation having to be the first team to play Connecticut since the first loss.
“Marquette was really outstanding,” said Brady. “We saw the tape and we have watched it a couple of times. Marquette was special that night, but it doesn’t take away what they (UConn) did to win the Maui Invitational and the talented players they have. We are concerned about the motivation that it will provide this team.”
LSU is expected to start the same lineup for the third straight game with Darrel Mitchell and Garrett Temple at guards and Glen Davis, Tasmin Mitchell and Tyrus Thomas. Thomas had 20 points against Tulane to lead the Tigers, while Davis is the league leader in points (18.3) and rebounds (10.0).
“Our team has played pretty well,” said Brady. “We have played a very challenging non-conference schedule. We have had to readjust our team. I like the athleticism of our team. I think that we have done well against the competition we have played and it has been good for our young team.”
The Tigers earlier this year defeated No. 13 West Virginia in a game in Morgantown in November and just missed downing Ohio State in Columbus last Saturday when the Buckeyes rallied with four three-pointers in the final 2:30 to come from 10 down to win by two.
LSU and its party arrived mid-day on Friday and practiced late in the afternoon at St. Joseph’s College in West Hartford.
The Tigers open its defense of its Southeastern Conference Western Division Championship on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, against the University of Arkansas.
LSU’s next home game is Jan. 14 against Tennessee in a game that is at 7 p.m. The tipoff on FSN was changed for television and some printed materials list the game at 5 p.m., but the game is the second half of the FSN SEC doubleheader and will start in Baton Rouge at 7 p.m.