BATON ROUGE — Although the conference season is just a few games old, two of the favorites in the Southeastern Conference Western Division meet Saturday when LSU hosts Alabama in a 2 p.m. men’s basketball game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tickets for the game, priced at $14 and $5 for youth (12 and under) are available online at LSUsports.net and at the upper concourse ticket windows beginning 90 minutes prior to game time at the Maravich Center.
The first 5,000 fans to enter the Maravich Center will receive a free “rally towel” courtesy of Verizon Wireless.
The LSU football team, champions of the SEC Western Division and winners of the Chick-Fil-A Peach Bowl, will be honored at halftime and following the game, a youth basketball exhibition game will take place and the movie “Madagascar” will be shown on the arena video board.
The game will be regionally televised in the Southeast by JP Sports (WAFB-TV Channel 9 in Baton Rouge) and broadcast around Louisiana on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle98.1 FM in Baton Rouge). The game can also be listened to online in the Geaux Zone powered by USAgencies at LSUsports.net. On-demand video will be available in the Geaux Zone within an hour of the end of the post-game radio show. Join Now!
LSU comes into the game with a 3-0 mark in the SEC, 11-5 overall, with conference wins at Arkansas, at home versus Tennessee and last Wednesday at Starkville against Mississippi State. Alabama, despite the loss of star senior forward Chuck Davis to a knee injury, is 3-1 in the SEC West and 10-6 overall. Alabama has lost to Ole Miss in its conference opener at home, but has wins at Auburn and Kentucky, before rallying to win in overtime this past Wednesday night in Tuscaloosa against Arkansas.
“We are going to have to have one of our best outings in order to win the game Saturday,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “I think (Alabama Coach Mark Gottfried’s done a pretty great job with using the zone for a couple of reasons. He makes you shoot from the perimeter, to give his guys some rest, and to protect the guys in foul trouble. We’re going to have to execute and survey the zone pretty well and hopefully he can make enough shots to stretch the zone and make them go to the man. I’m sure he will play man, too, he is pretty good at mixing it up.”
The Tigers beat Mississippi State, 71-57, holding several rushes by the Bulldogs off before a 10-0 run late sealed the game. Tyrus Thomas, the two-time SEC Freshman of the Week, had his league-leading 10th double double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Glen Davis led the Tigers with 17 points.
“I though at Mississippi State the thing that allowed us to win the game was defensively we held them to 57,” said Brady. “So I think that defensively we are playing really well. We are holding teams to low numbers. If we can find some points, offensively, to go with the defense we will be ready for Saturday.”
Alabama is led by 6-10 center Jermareo Davidson who is averaging 14.3 point per game and 9.7 rebounds. The 9.7 rebounds is second in the league, sandwiched between Thomas at 10.1 boards a game and Davis’ 9.4 average.
LSU will remain at home after the Alabama game to face Georgia in a 7 p.m. non-televised game Wednesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.