BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers less than 48 hours from a narrow loss to 14th-ranked Tennessee must face No. 3 Kentucky Saturday afternoon in a 3 p.m. tip at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Besides having the nationally-ranked Wildcats in the building, it will be a special day for long-time LSU basketball fans as they will see the jersey of Durand “Rudy” Macklin retired at halftime of the contest. Macklin was a two-time First-Team All-American, the second leading scorer in school history and the school’s all-time leading rebounder who led LSU to the 1981 NCAA Final Four.
The first 5,000 fans receive Rudy Macklin jersey T-shirts.
As of the close of business Friday, less than 300 tickets remained for the contest which will be televised regionally over the SEC Network and ESPN 360. Those tickets that do remain will go on sale at 1:30 p.m. at the upper concourse ticket windows of the Maravich Center.
The radio broadcast of the game 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 GeauxZone at LSUsports.net.
The Tigers, 9-13 and 0-8 in the league, took 14th-ranked Tennessee to the wire on Thursday night coming from 14 points down with eight minutes to play to have a shot in the air to tie in the final 10 seconds. Tasmin Mitchell had his fifth straight game with over 10 rebounds grabbing 17 and his 10th double double of the season. But it was great for the crowd to see Bo Spencer‘s shooting touch returning, posting the second highest scoring game of his career with 25.
“Obviously, (Tennessee) was a game that we were in a good position,” said LSU Coach Trent Johnson. “As much as we were behind and kept fighting to get back into the position to where we could win, I thought we had some opportunity. It’s hard when you don’t knock down open shots. I think that was our Achilles heel last night. We have a quick turnaround, and I haven’t even seen any of the guys (Friday), but I suspect they are down because they competed hard against a very good team. I have to do a good job of getting them back on board”
Kentucky is ranked No. 4 by Associated Press and No. 3 in the ESPN/USA Today coaches poll and comes in with a 21-1 record and a 6-1 mark in the SEC Eastern Division. The names are well known led by John Wall averaging 16.9 points a game, while DeMarcus Cousins averaged 16.3 points per game. Veteran Patrick Patterson comes in averaging 15.1 points per game and Eric Bledsoe comes in 10.9 points a contest.
“Kentucky is very impressive,” said Johnson. “For me, when you look at the nucleus of guys with the exception of Jodie Meeks that we beat last year in Lexington, those guys are all role players. DeMarcus Cousins is really impressive, and if you saw him in the summer compared to where he is now, you’d say, ‘Oh my goodness.’ From a standpoint of length, athleticism, skill and being both mentally and physically tough, they are a tough group.”
The Wildcats have not played since Tuesday when they were a 10-point winner at Rupp Arena, 85-75, against Ole Miss.
LSU Basketball Meets with the Media
February 5, 2010
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On a quick turn around after the Tennessee loss …
“It’s not exhausting, but what’s been exhausting all year is losing. Less than a 48-hour swing is not going to affect us. I think we are going to play with our heart and mind no matter how short the time is. We did that not too long ago when we played four games in less than seven days. It really doesn’t matter.”
On playing Kentucky …
“They are a great team. We respect them, and they are well coached. They are a good team, but they are beatable. South Carolina showed that against them. They are a great team, and they’ve got everything they need. They have all the pieces to the puzzle.”
HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON QUOTES
Opening statement …
“Kentucky is very impressive. For me, when you look at the nucleus of guys with the exception of Jodie Meeks that we beat last year in Lexington, those guys are all role players. DeMarcus Cousins is really impressive, and if you saw him in the summer compared to where he is now, you’d say, ‘Oh my goodness.’ From a standpoint of length, athleticism, skill and being both mentally and physically tough, they are a tough group. Last night was hard for all of us. Obviously,(Tennessee) was a game that we were in a good position. As much as we were behind and kept fighting to get back into the position to where we could win, I thought we had some opportunity. It’s hard when you don’t knock down open shots. I think that was our Achilles heel last night. We have a quick turnaround, and I haven’t even seen any of the guys today, but I suspect they are down because they competed hard against a very good team. I have to do a good job of getting them back on board. We are going to have a light workout today, and probably walk through a lot of stuff. There’s nothing else you can do to get ready for this team because you can’t simulate their length and quickness. It’s a mental thing in terms of understanding they are going to put a lot of pressure on you. I don’t think they are a team that will double team Tasmin. I think they’ll probably run a guy at him instead. We have to handle the pressure and go from there.”
SEC NETWORK AFFILIATES
SAT 2/6/2010 3:00 PM KENTUCKY-LSU, , ,
Birmingham-Tuscaloosa-Anniston, AL, WTTO, CW
Dothan, AL, WTVY, CW
Huntsville-Decatur-Florence, AL, WAMY, MNT
Mobile-Pensacola (Ft Walt), AL, WJTC, NBC
Montgomery (Selma), AL, WCOV, FOX
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs, AR, KHBS, ABC
Ft. Smith-Fay-Sprngdl-Rgrs, AR, KHOG, ABC
Jonesboro, AR, KAIT, ABC
Little Rock-Pine Bluff, AR, KATV, ABC
Ft. Myers-Naples, FL, WXCW, CW
Gainesville, FL, WCJB, ABC
Jacksonville, Brunswick, FL, WJXT, IND
Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL, WSFL, CW
Orlando-Daytona Beach-Melbrn, FL, WOFL, FOX
Panama City, FL, WJHG, CW
Tallahassee-thomasville, FL, WCTV-DT2, MNT
Tampa-St. Pete, Sarasota, FL, WTTA, MNT
Albany, GA, GA, WALB, NBC
Atlanta, GA, WPCH, IND
Augusta, GA, ERDW, MNT
Columbus, GA, GA, WXTX, FOX
Macon, GA, WGXA, FOX
Savannah, GA, WTGS, FOX
Evansville, IN, WTVW, FOX
South Bend-Elkhart, IN, WHME, IND
Wichita-Hutchinson Plus, KS, KSCW, CBS
Bowling Green, KY, WBKO, ABC
Lexington, KY, WKYT, CBS
Louisville, KY, WAVE, NBC
Paducah-C. Girardeau-Harrbg-Mt VN, KY, WPSD, NBC
Alexandria, LA, LA, KLAX-DT, ABC
Baton Rouge, LA, WAFB, CBS
Lafayette, LA, LA, KADN, FOX
Lake Charles, LA, KVHP, FOX
New Orleans, LA, WUPL, CBS
Shreveport, LA, KMSS, FOX
Baltimore, MD, CSN-MA, RSN
Biloxi-Gulfport, MS, WXXV, FOX
Columbus-Tupelo- West Point, MS, WCBI, CBS
Greenwood-Greenville, MS, WABG-A, ABC
Jackson, MS, MS, WJTV-DT, CBS
Meridian, MS, EGBC, FOX
Charlotte, NC, WAXN, IND
Greensboro-H. Point-W. Salem, NC, WCWG, CW
Greenville-N.Bern-Washngtn, NC, WITN-DT2,
Norfolk-Portsmth-Newpt Nws, NC, WSKY, IND
Raleigh-Durham-Fayetteville, NC, WNCN-DT, NBC
Binghamton, NY, WBPN, MNT
Cincinnati, OH, WSTR, MNT
Toledo, OH, WMNT, MNT
Oklahoma City, OK, KSBI, IND
Charleston, SC, SC, WMMP, MNT
Columbia, SC, SC, WIS-DT, NBC
Greenvll-Spart-Ashevll-Anderson, SC, WYCW, CBS
Chattanooga, TN, WDSI, FOX
Jackson, TN, TN, WJKT, FOX
Knoxville, TN, WVLT, CBS
Memphis, TN, WLMT, FOX
Nashville, TN, WUXP, MNT
Tri-Cities, TN-VA, TN, WCYB, NBC
Houston, TX, CSS-H, RSN
Tyler-Longview-Lfkn & Ncgd, TX, KLPN, MNT
Roanoke-Lynchburg, VA, WDRL, IND
Spokane, WA, SWX,
Madison, WI, ETVW, MNT
Charleston-Huntington, WV, WSAZ, NBC