BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers, off two wins over Florida and at Kentucky last week, bolted up to No. 12 in the Associated Press poll and No. 11 in the ESPN/USA Today poll in its third week back in the polls announced on Monday.
The ranking is the highest AP ranking for LSU since the sixth and seventh polls of 2006-07 when LSU was also ranked 12th.
LSU moved into the polls at No. 23 in AP and 24 in ESPN/USA Today and has won four games since then.
The Tigers are now 256-91 when playing as a ranked team and will play Vanderbilt Wednesday night as a No. 12 ranked team where they have earned a record of 16-3 in that position in the AP poll.
LSU and Vanderbilt will meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with senior ceremonies set to begin at 6:45 p.m.
Tickets are available online at www.LSUtix.net and for students it is a student point night and LSU students get in free with a valid LSU ID.
LSU Basketball Media Session
March 2, 2009
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON
Opening statement…
“Let’s start with the injury report, first of all. Bo Spencer has a slight wrist sprain. We held him out today. It’s his right wrist. Quintin Thornton took a really tough blow against Kentucky and sustained a slight concussion, so he did not go today. We’ll check on him tomorrow. Garrett Green had back surgery this afternoon, and his parents are in town. Other than that, we’re pretty healthy and had a normal work day and looking forward to playing a very good Vanderbilt team. Obviously, as we well now, it’s the seniors’ last home game. It’s a special group of seniors. I know a lot of you (media) have been around them longer than I have, but obviously they’ve had a huge impact on me in a short period of time as people and as basketball players.”
On the sense of accomplishment winning the SEC title…
“There are more games to play, and we have work to do. We have a very good basketball team coming in here that starts three freshmen, a sophomore and a junior. You look at them on video tape and watch how they demolished a very good South Carolina team. Obviously we need to be ready to play and play well. For us, it was a normal work day. Our approach to the next game and the next practice has been pretty good, and we need to sustain that.”
On inheriting five seniors…
“It’s not my first rodeo; it’s not my first job. I’ve been in some situations where I’ve inherited a good talent base and some tradition. I’ve been in situations where I haven’t inherited much. For the most part, it’s always been the same to me, and that is ?Hey guys, look. These are the things that we have to do to be successful, and if we do those things than we will. If we don’t, we’re going to struggle. But, even if we do those things well and we’re not successful, you need to tip your hat to the other team because they are just better.’ These guys have been very good in terms of buying in and being receptive to what we talk about as a good basketball philosophy. Regardless of what level of play it is, it’s all relative. If you defend, you’re going to have a chance to win and play for championships, whether it’s the NBA, Biddy ball, junior ball or whatever. Even if you rebound and take care of the ball, then you have a chance to stay in the game, and we’ve done that for the most part.”
On how proud he is of this team…
“I’m extremely proud of where they have taken themselves. I’m extremely proud of them. Like I said, they are the ones who chose to listen and be receptive to what we were trying to do as a new staff, so again, I’m very proud of them.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Garrett Temple
On his five years at LSU…
“My first year was a learning experience to redshirt and watch guys like Antonio Hudson, Darrel Mitchell and Brandon Bass play. For us to get to the tournament and lose, it was a learning experience for me. Obviously my freshman year was a special year, playing multiple minutes as a freshman and us going to the Final Four was special. All of you know that. The down year that we had after that and the down year that we had last year with the coaching change and Coach Pierre coming in and us going 5-5 at the end of the season shed a little light at the end of the year. The coaching change this year and guys just buying into what Coach Johnson wants to do and understanding that he’s a winner, and if we do what he tells us to do that we’re going to win. It’s been great. Losing only four games, it just feels good to be back on top. I’m trying to go out on top as I know my fellow four seniors are.”
Center Chris Johnson
On his career at LSU…
“Actually, it just feels like yesterday just coming in as a freshman and watching guys like Glen Davis, Tyrus Thomas and Darnell Lazare ? big guys before me. I just learned from them in practice and watching the Final Four team and how they brought it together and pretty much just playing together as a team as we are now. I see a lot in this team like I did in my freshman year. Guys are just buying into what the coaches are preaching to us and making it work. Over these four years, I’m just thankful that this program took a chance on a kid from a small town in Montross, Va. No one knows where that is. I’m just thankful everyday.”
Guard Terry Martin
On if he feels he is part of something special this year…
“When I first came here, I wasn’t expecting what we did, so it was good to experience that even though I couldn’t play. It just had me ready for the next three years that I was going to be here, so it was kind of disappointing in the following seasons. My sophomore season we couldn’t come together and last year with the injuries and coaching problems, it feels good for everything just to come together. It seems like all the struggles we had in past years, it’s all coming together, and we are just doing the right things, and everything is just clicking.”
Guard Marcus Thornton
On winning the SEC title…
“Last year was very disappointing with everything going on, so I just felt like everything that was going bad happens good, too. This year, Coach Johnson came in, and we bought into his system. We did everything he asked, and we executed. We did everything we had to do, and we ended up winning the SEC Championship. It feels great to have two games left, and we already clinched the SEC Championship. I’m just happy for the seniors and everybody on the team that we were able to come together and do that.”
AP Top 25
1. Connecticut (67) 27-2 1,792
2. North Carolina (3) 25-3 1,678
3. Pittsburgh (1) 26-3 1,612
4. Oklahoma 26-3 1,576
5. Memphis (1) 26-3 1,543
6. Louisville 23-5 1,462
7. Duke 24-5 1,340
8. Michigan State 23-5 1,302
9. Kansas 24-5 1,190
10. Wake Forest 22-5 1,158
11. Villanova 23-6 913
12. LSU 25-4 894
13. Marquette 23-6 860
14. Gonzaga 23-5 837
15. Missouri 24-5 795
16. Washington 22-7 704
17. Xavier 23-5 629
18. Clemson 22-6 564
19. Purdue 22-7 545
20. UCLA 22-7 497
21. Arizona State 21-7 347
22. Butler 25-4 302
23. Illinois 23-7 287
24. Florida State 22-7 272
25. Syracuse 21-8 99
Others Receiving Votes
Creighton 52, Brigham Young 41, Utah 22, Saint Mary’s 13, Dayton 11, West Virginia 10, Davidson 9, Texas 9, California 8, South Carolina 7, Providence 7, Washington State 4, Arizona 3, Oklahoma State 2, Boston College 1, Rhode Island 1, American University 1, Utah State 1.
ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. Connecticut (27) 27-2 769
2. North Carolina 25-3 711
3. Memphis (4) 26-3 698
4. Pittsburgh 26-3 667
5. Oklahoma 26-3 653
6. Louisville 23-5 630
7. Duke 24-5 597
8. Michigan State 23-5 557
9. Kansas 24-5 509
10. Wake Forest 22-5 480
11. LSU 25-4 420
12. Missouri 24-5 377
13. Washington 22-7 346
14. Gonzaga 23-5 339
15. Marquette 23-6 327
16. Villanova 23-6 324
17. UCLA 22-7 295
18. Xavier 23-5 260
19. Clemson 22-6 219
20. Purdue 22-7 211
21. Arizona State 21-7 189
22. Butler 25-4 168
23. Illinois 23-7 107
24. Florida State 22-7 67
25. Syracuse 21-8 37
Others Receiving Votes
Saint Mary’s 26, Utah State 17, Texas 15, Creighton 13, Brigham Young 12, Utah 10, Dayton 9, California 6, Providence 4, Boston College 4, West Virginia 2.
Collegiate Basketball News RPI
The Rating Percentage Index (RPI) has been used by the NCAA since 1981 to supplement the selection of at-large teams and the seeding of all teams for the NCAA basketball tournament. This list is an independent duplication of the RPI without input from the NCAA.
Through March 1
Rank, Team, W L, Rating, Schedule Rank, RPI
1. Pittsburgh 25 3 .5979 21 .6685
2. Duke 24 5 .6267 5 .6642
3. North Carolina 24 3 .5845 30 .6571
4. Michigan St. 23 5 .6318 4 .6547
5. Oklahoma 26 3 .5856 29 .6546
6. Connecticut 27 2 .5784 39 .6536
7. Kansas 24 5 .6033 16 .6454
8. Memphis 26 3 .5672 55 .6413
9. Utah 20 7 .6137 9 .6354
10. Louisville 23 5 .5970 23 .6345
11. Xavier 23 5 .5713 47 .6285
12. Washington 22 7 .6044 14 .6259
13. Missouri 23 5 .5627 59 .6243
14. Clemson 22 6 .5889 27 .6231
15. Villanova 23 6 .5771 41 .6223
16. Florida St. 22 7 .5927 24 .6217
17. Wake Forest 22 5 .5477 80 .6213
18. Butler 24 4 .5378 95 .6171
19. Illinois 23 7 .5843 31 .6166
20. West Virginia 20 9 .5999 20 .6154
21. Tennessee 18 10 .6467 2 .6147
22. BYU 21 6 .5746 44 .6139
23. Syracuse 20 8 .6016 18 .6123
24. Purdue 22 7 .5747 43 .6110
25. LSU 25 4 .5357 99 .6107