LEXINGTON, Ky. — The 18th-ranked LSU men’s basketball team tries to keep its magical streak of SEC wins going in one of the nation’s toughest venues ? Rupp Arena ? as the Tigers take on the Kentucky Wildcats in a nationally-televised contest (watch live on CBSsports.com) Saturday afternoon.
The game tips at just after 3 p.m. CST (4 p.m. EST) on CBS Sports as the third game of their Saturday tripleheader. The LSU radio broadcast will be available on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and in the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net. The game is listed as a sellout.
LSU is 24-4 and 12-1 in the Southeastern Conference, winning 12 straight after losing the conference opener in Alabama on Jan. 11. After Tuesday night’s 81-75 win over Florida, the Tigers assured themselves of the outright SEC Western Division title and at worst a share of the SEC regular season crown. After LSU’s win over Florida and South Carolina’s win over Kentucky, South Carolina is the only team with the potential to win a share of the SEC title. The Gamecocks must win its final three games while LSU would have to lose all three remaining regular season games to permit the tie.
Kentucky is 19-9, 8-5 in the East, tied for second with Florida and Tennessee, a game behind the Gamecocks in the race for the Eastern Division title. Kentucky lost at South Carolina, 77-59, and will be looking to get the team going back the right way at Rupp on Saturday.
The game features the top two scorers in the Southeastern Conference and four players who have posted big numbers in league play this year ? Jodie Meeks and Patrick Patterson of Kentucky and Marcus Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell of LSU. Meeks went for 50-plus at Tennessee earlier in the year, Mitchell scored 41 at Mississippi State. Meeks leads the Southeastern Conference at 25.1 points per game, while Thornton is second at 20.9. Thornton has posted six games this season of 30 points or more.
Patterson is coming off a strong effort in the Carolina game, his best since his return from a recent injury, with 28 points and 12 rebounds against the Gamecocks.
“We are back at it again going to play a Kentucky Wildcat basketball team in Lexington that is probably going to be a little bit testy I would think after getting beat by South Carolina,” said LSU Coach Trent Johnson. “It’s the same old story for us. They cause a multitude of problems because of their length. This will be the longest and most athletic team that we have faced. It will cause problems because they do get up and come after you defensively. Jodie Meeks and (Patrick) Patterson are a handful, but with (DeAndre) Liggins, (Kevin) Galloway and the rest of those guys, this is a very talented basketball team. When you look at their roster there are some highly recruited and skilled guys who are on their basketball team, so when they are right, they are exceptionally good. We need to understand that, which I think we do, and we need to be ready to play.”
The Tigers return home for their final home game of 2009 against Vanderbilt at 7 p.m. Wednesday night in the Maravich Center. The five seniors will be honored in ceremonies beginning at 6:45 p.m.
Tickets for the game are available at www.LSUtix.net. The game will be televised only on a tape-delayed basis by CST.
LSU closes the regular season at Auburn on March 7 in a game that is now slated for 3 p.m. and will be telecast on the Raycom network affiliates as one of their wild card telecasts.
Basketball Media Session ? February 26, 2009
HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON QUOTES
Opening Statement
“We are back at it again going to play a Kentucky Wildcat basketball team in Lexington that is probably going to be a little bit testy I would think after getting beat by South Carolina. It’s the same old story for us. They cause a multitude of problems because of their length. This will be the longest and most athletic team that we have faced. It will cause problems because they do get up and come after you defensively. Jodie Meeks and (Patrick) Patterson are a handful, but with (DeAndre) Liggins, (Kevin) Galloway and the rest of those guys, this is a very talented basketball team. When you look at their roster there are some highly recruited and skilled guys who are on their basketball team, so when they are right, they are exceptionally good. We need to understand that, which I think we do, and we need to be ready to play.”
On if the SEC as a conference is stronger now then at the start of conference play …
“Yes, because freshmen are no longer freshmen, and juniors are no longer juniors. Emphatically yes, no question.”
On if the success of his team has surprised him this year …
“No. They (the players) had a good feel just as much as I had a good feel that if we would stay the course when things got tough that we would have a chance to compete and we would have a chance to win our share of games. We are 12-1 and 24-4, but it is not like we have been dominant every game. We have found ways to win games, and that is because we have good players. When Marcus Thornton makes a comment that he wanted to be in a situation when it comes this time of the year that he wanted to be playing in meaningful games, that shows you where his head was at early in the year. With Garrett (Temple) and Tasmin (Mitchell) there has never been a doubt about them wanting to win. The same with Chris (Johnson) and Bo Spencer. It doesn’t surprise me.”
On how having experienced players has helped this team win close games …
“It helps, but experience doesn’t mean anything unless you can play. Marcus Thornton can play. Everybody talks about player of the year candidates, and you hear names like Jodie Meeks, rightfully so, Nick Calathes, rightfully so, and Devan Downey ? there is a guy who plays on this basketball team who is a pretty good player, and if we had to stop today I would challenge anybody to look at the line and wins and losses and say why his name isn’t at the top. Watching South Carolina play Kentucky last night, Darrin Horn, who is an exceptional basketball coach, makes the comment that Devan Downey is the best defender in the league. Well, there is a guy on this team who can guard a one, two, three and at times a four in Garrett Temple. The bottom line is there are good players on this basketball team. Tasmin Mitchell is as talented and skilled as anybody. Chris Johnson is as underrated a player in this league as there could be. If you talk about any player who has improved as much as anybody to this day, it is probably Bo Spencer. For us, we can struggle if we are not right in Lexington, so we still have a lot of work to do and a lot of games to play. It is the same old hat. It’s just a focus on the task at hand.”
On who is going to guard Jodie Meeks …
“Garrett will get Jodie, and Terry (Martin) will. Delwan (Graham) will get a taste or two, but it is going to have to be good team defense. We are not going to stop him (Meeks), and we’re not going to stop (Patrick) Patterson. Has anybody stopped Marcus (Thornton) or Tasmin (Mitchell)? They have worn them down and contained them, but we can’t stop those guys. That is a talented team. If you look at their losses, there are six or seven games that could have gone either way. If they win five of them, then what’s their record? That’s how I tend to look at it. Their defense is first in the league. Their rebound differential is right there at the top, and coming off a loss they are going to be testy as can be.”
F TASMIN MITCHELL QUOTES
On how confident the team is right now …
“We are really confident. We don’t want to get overconfident, but we know what we have at stake right now. We know how successful we have been this year, but we have the same confidence that we had from day one. We believed in the team and the concept and bought into the system, and that allowed us to have confidence right there.”
On his impressions of Rupp Arena last time LSU played there …
“I went there when I was a sophomore. We had a chance to beat them. I had a really good game, and we had a chance to beat them. Rupp is part of the Bluegrass State. Kentucky is basketball, and Rupp Arena is a very historic place. It holds over 25,000 people strong. Rupp is one of the hardest places to play, so it’s a good thing we only play there once every other year. It is a tough place.”
On if the PMAC is becoming a tough place for opponents to play …
“Yes, fan support is a big emphasis. We want people to back us during our success. We want people to come out and watch us play. We need to get basketball back in the state of Louisiana and LSU.”
G MARCUS THORNTON QUOTES
On being compared to Jodie Meeks and how he feels about competing against him …
“First off, he’s a great player, but I want to be referred to as Marcus Thornton. That’s me. He’s Jodie Meeks and he is doing his thing and I am doing mine. It is going to be a hyped up game, but we are going to have to go in and do what we have done the whole year to get us this far and that is taking it one step at a time. We can’t let the hype get to us as a team. We have to go in there and get the job done.”
On what one thing has led to the turnaround this season from last year …
“Buying into the system. Coach Johnson has stressed defense from day one. The first day he got here he called a meeting and said things were going to change around here. As time went on we bought into the system and things turned around. I guess he knew what he was talking about because we are here at 12-1 going into Kentucky looking to win the SEC outright.”