AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU men’s basketball team looks to sustain offense for longer more successfully this time as the Auburn Tigers play host to the LSU Tigers Wednesday night in a Southeastern Conference basketball game at Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum.
The Tigers and Auburn meet for the second time this season at 7 p.m. in a game that will be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network, in the “GeauxZone” at LSUsports.net and on the SEC stations on XM Satellite Radio. There is no television for the contest. The game is the first of two road games this week for LSU as they also play at Alabama in a regionally-televised game at 2 p.m. Saturday in Tuscaloosa.
LSU is 7-12 and 0-5 in the SEC, trying to stop an eight-game losing streak, while Auburn is 12-6 and 2-3 in the league in a tie for third.
The teams are meeting for the second time as is the custom among Western Division teams but this second meeting takes place just two weeks from the first meeting in Baton Rouge when Auburn scored a 74-67 meeting at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU had the early advantage in the first meeting, leading at the half, 32-28. But the visiting Tigers shot 69.2 percent from the floor in the second half (18-of-26) and was able to rally past LSU for the game. DeWayne Reed had 20 to lead Auburn, with Frank Tolbert adding 16, Quan Prowell 12 and Lucas Hargrove 10. LSU was led by Marcus Thornton who had a career high of 27 points, with Garrett Temple adding 17 and Anthony Randolph 12.
LSU did shoot a good percentage for the game (47.9 percent, 23-of-48), but it was propelled by a 59 percent first half (13-of-22).
Auburn returns home after a 20-point, 97-77 loss, at Alabama while Arkansas handled LSU, 68-52, as LSU for the second time at home in league play failed to shoot 30 percent from the floor and shot 19 percent from the three-point arc. It was the opposite case from the 92-76 loss at Vanderbilt the week before as the offense wasn’t there but the defense was.
“Our team against Arkansas in the second half, outside of four or five free throws we gave them in the last minute, really played well defensively,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “They only scored 29 in the second half with four free throws in the last 30 seconds, so it was a 25-point second half for us defensively. We rebounded the ball well. We had 19 offensive rebounds. We just have scoring droughts.
“From an effort standpoint it was good, but from an offensive standpoint we had droughts. We have to eliminate that and try to play more consistently offensively and get some guys who need to score for us to do it on a consistent basis and not in spurts. We certainly have been defending a little bit better and trying to rebound, and the effort stats are good. It’s just offensively we are inconsistent at times, and we need to do a better job of that.”
The Tigers have been led in scoring by Marcus Thornton who has scored at least 20 points each of the last four games, including the 27 against the Tigers in the first meeting. Anthony Randolph continues to rank first among freshman in the league in rebounding and blocked shots and is fifth among league freshman in scoring.
Thornton averages 18.7 points a contest, over 22 in SEC games, while Randolph averages 13.8 points, 8.5 rebounds and 2.5 blocks per game.
Barrett is the leading scorer on the Auburn team at 14.2 points a game while Prowell averages 13.2 points a contest and Tolbert 11.6.
The Tigers may get the services back of center Chris Johnson who broke a bone in his hand in the Tulane game in New Orleans on Jan. 2. He returned to non-contact practice on Friday and practiced with the team on Monday and Tuesday. How much playing time he receives, if any, against Auburn was still to be determined.