BATON ROUGE — Both LSU and Nicholls State put long winning streaks on the line Wednesday night when the Tigers host the Colonels in men’s basketball at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU enters the game 7-0, having won the first seven games of this eight-game homestand that concludes Wednesday and enters with other streaks on the line as well as LSU has won 10 straight games dating back to last season and the Tigers have a 70-game win streak at the Maravich Center against Louisiana schools dating back to Dec. 8, 1988.
Nicholls State, after an 87-45 win over Dillard Monday in Thibodeaux, the Colonels are 6-3 on the season and winners of five straight contest and looking to break a 14-game losing streak to the Tigers in the series.
The game will be televised regionally on CSTHD and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (New Country 100.7 The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net. Tickets are available online at LSUsports.net and beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the upper ticket windows of the Maravich Center, starting at $5.
As part of the evening, three fans will be chosen at halftime for a promotion sponsored by Adler’s Jewelry with the winner receiving a $350 Adler’s gift card.
The game matches contrasting statistics that are ranked at or near the top of the national rankings for Division I. The Colonels are ranked seventh in the nation in field goal percentage at 51.6 percent, while the Tigers are holding opponents to just 32.5% shooting, the lowest percentage allowed in the nation. The Tigers are also first in the nation in rebound margin at plus-15.4 a game.
Coach Trent Johnson sees the Colonels as a tough opponent as the Tigers start a series of five games in 15 days to close out the 2008 portion of the schedule.
“They return a lot of guys,” Johnson said. “They run a version of the Princeton offense where they really spread you and back cut you. They’re really disciplined. They shoot the ball from the perimeter very well. I think this is a basketball team that if we (LSU) don’t play well, they’re very capable. (Nicholls) is a basketball team that is not going to beat themselves. They are playing with a level of confidence. It’s the same old story for us. We need to concentrate on ourselves and continue to try and get better at the things we are doing.”
In an 87-41 win over Grambling State on Saturday, no starter played more than 22 minutes and Marcus Thornton led the Tigers for the third straight game in scoring with 18 points. Terry Martin had one of his best games as a Tiger with a near perfect night shooting, including hitting all four three-point attempts and finishing with 16 points.
With his 12 points against Grambling, junior Tasmin Mitchell is truly inside of becoming the 37th LSU player to score 1,000 career points, needing just 18 more to reach the milestone.
Thornton leads the Tigers in scoring average at 17.3 points per game with Mitchell at 11.9 points, point guard Bo Spencer at 10.9 and center Christ Johnson at 10.7. Garrett Temple, who has recorded 22 assists in the last three games, is averaging 4.3 assists per game and LSU is ranked 11th in the country in assist average at 18.7 a game.
After the Nicholls State contest, LSU will take its show on the road for the first time on Saturday, facing Texas A&M in the second game of a doubleheader at the Toyota Center in Houston. Game time is 3:30 p.m. and there is no television for the LSU-A&M contest. LSU returns home on Monday, Dec. 22, to face McNeese State at 7 p.m.