BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s basketball team puts its 2-0 Southeastern Conference start on the line on the road again Wednesday when it travels to Starkville, Miss., to take on the Mississippi State Bulldogs at Humphrey Coliseum.
The game between the Tigers and Bulldogs will not be televised, but will be available on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies at LSUsports.net. Tipoff is scheduled for just after 7 p.m.
LSU is coming off an 88-74 victory over Tennessee on Saturday night to go to 10-5 overall and 2-0 in the league, while Mississippi State comes into the game with an 11-5 record and 1-2 in the SEC after a 75-65 loss at Ole Miss on Saturday. Mississippi State’s SEC win came in Starkville against Arkansas.
The Tigers overcame a sluggish start against Tennessee’s pressure offense as the Tigers made 17 first-half turnovers, but still held a three-point, 30-27, lead at the half. In the second 20 minutes, the Tigers knocked the turnovers down to just eight, shot over 75 percent from both the field and the charity stripe and was able to pull away in the game.
“Our team played well the other night in the second half against Tennessee,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “Had we not defended well in the first half, with our turnovers, we had the potential to be down at least double digits. We handled the press a little better and shot the ball a little more efficiently in the second half. Now our focus is on Mississippi State and going to Starkville Wednesday evening. It’s a tough place to play. They beat Arkansas at home. All our emphasis is on that particular game.”
LSU won both meetings a season ago, winning 69-62 in Baton Rouge and 80-72 in Starkville. It was the first time LSU has won both meetings in a year since sweeping State in both 1992 and 1993. The LSU wins stopped a four-game MSU winning streak, but State still leads the series in Starkville by a 54-34 count.
Glen Davis enters off his ninth double double for the Tigers after scoring 24 points with 10 rebounds against Tennessee. Davis has scored in double figures for the 19th consecutive game, the longest streak since Ronald Dupree scored in double figures 29 games during the 2002-03 season. Tyrus Thomas, LSU’s redshirt freshman, earned his second straight SEC Freshman of the Week honors with 17 points, nine rebounds and nine blocks against UT.
LSU has won four straight road SEC games going into the contest and seven straight overall entering the week.
The Tigers return home Saturday for a 2 p.m. game against Alabama at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Tickets for the game are $14 with $5 youth tickets available for those 12 and under. The LSU football team will be recognized at halftime of the game and the movie “Madagascar” will be shown on the Maravich Center video boards shortly after the end of the contest.