WICHITA, Kansas — The LSU men’s basketball team goes on the road looking for a win when it takes on Wichita State University here Wednesday night.
The game at the 10,478 Charles Koch Arena is sold out (as have all games in advance for this season) and will not be televised live in the Louisiana area. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network, in the GeauxZone at LSUsports.net and on the SEC Channels of XM Satellite Radio. The game will be televised live in the state of Kansas and shown on CST on tape delay Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
LSU is coming off an 82-58 win over Northwestern State Saturday night as the season resumed after the final exam break to run LSU’s record to 6-3 as the season completes its first third of play. In that game, Marcus Thornton scored 22 points with Chris Johnson getting 16, Terry Martin 15 and Anthony Randolph 13.
Thornton continues to lead the team averaging 19.6 points a game, while Randolph averaged 14.8 points and Chris Johnson an ever increasing average of 13 points a game.
LSU shot 47 percent from the floor in the game, 45 percent from the arc and posted 82 points, but the problem was on the boards as LSU was out rebounded by 14 total and 15 on the offensive end (20-to-5).
Wichita State is 5-4 on the season under new head coach Gregg Marshall who came to Wichita after nine years as the head coach at Winthrop. Marshall took the Wichita State job after the musical chairs that sent Billy Gillespie to Kentucky from Texas A&M and former Wichita State coach Mark Turgeon to Texas A&M.
State, 3-1 at home, has lost its last two contests (60-59 to Texas Arlington on Dec. 7 and 59-56 at Missouri-Kansas City on Dec. 15). P. J. Cousinard leads Wichita’s starters with an 11.4 points per game average, while Matt Braeuer averages 10.7 points and Phillip Thomasson 10.1 points.
The Tigers and the Shockers met in November 2006 in the Maravich Center, with LSU holding the lead for much of a tight game before missing several free throws in the final minutes allowing Wichita State to rally for a 57-53 win. LSU was just 7-of-13 at the line in that game and 2-of-14 from the arc.
This starts a stretch of five games before SEC play in which the competition level goes up for LSU as they return to Baton Rouge to host Pac 10 schools on back-to-back Saturday as LSU hosts Oregon State at 2 p.m. this Saturday and Washington at 2 p.m. on Dec. 29. The Tigers then travel to New Orleans to face Tulane on Jan. 2 and to Texas A&M on Jan. 5 before opening SEC play at home against Mississippi State on Jan. 9.
“The good thing about it is from here on out the game is on,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “We have Wichita State on the road, Oregon State at home, Washington at home, Tulane in New Orleans and Texas A&M on the road. It’s on now. That is what I am looking forward to. The beauty about it is now there is no team that we face that isn’t going to make a basket because they can’t shoot. There is not going to be a team that will make poor decisions or fumble the ball. The game is on now – from here on out. We are playing some real guys that are put together by good coaches. If there are flaws and holes or guys that aren’t competitive, it will show up big time. I can’t wait.”
Coach Brady also announced that senior Dameon Mason did not make the trip to Wichita:
“Having faced a difficult semester academically and with only nine hours needed for graduation, Dameon Mason is not on the trip to Wichita in order to attend the intersession classes he needs to insure his opportunity for graduation. Even though it puts an added strain on our team because of the limited numbers, our goal for our players to receive a degree from LSU has always been the top priority.”
The Tigers have found out the team can score well in spurts as noticed by the season best 17-0 run that put the Northwestern State game in the second half. That half also featured good passing and play from LSU guards as the 11 made baskets all came off assisted passes and five of the baskets were three-pointers.
LSU also remains one of the nation’s leading shot blockers as the tall and lean Tigers are averaging 8.8 blocks per game, third in the nation behind only two teams tied for first ? Connecticut and UNC-Asheville. Randolph is one of the top shot blockers in the country at 3.3 blocks a contest.
Tickets for Saturday’s game with Oregon State are on sale at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and online at LSUsports.net. Tickets are $11 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-12). The first 500 fans at the game will receive a holiday LSU ornament and Santa Mike The Tiger will be in the upper concourse from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday taking free pictures with all fans.