BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team tries to get back on the winning track Thursday night when it hosts the University of Tennessee-Martin at 7 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tickets for the game start at $10 and $5 for youth (ages 3-12) and are available at LSUtix.net and on game night, beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Maravich Center upper concourse ticket windows.
The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WTGE New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and on LSUsports.net/live. This will also be the first of five non-conference games televised by Cox Sports TV with Lyn Rollins and Jordy Hultberg on the call.
LSU found itself in an unusual position after losing to Nicholls State, 62-53, on Tuesday at the Maravich Center, the first loss to an in-state school in the PMAC in 82 games dating back almost 22 years.
At his pre-game media session Wednesday, Coach Trent Johnson went over some of the team and opponent stats to point out one of the most important principles of the game. Included in those numbers were the -19 difference in offensive rebounds and the +21 margin in turnovers.
“That speaks volumes to everything that I believe and that this group has got to believe, which is that if you defend, rebound and take care of the ball, then you have an opportunity to be successful,” Johnson said. “We talked about it and worked on it. The thing that bothers me is that we have two guys on this team that in two games have more assists than turnovers – and they are both freshmen. The majority of our turnovers and breakdowns defensively are coming from guys that have been in the program for two or three years. That is where we are at.
“The only positive in all of this is that it is early. Again, I want to make sure that everybody understands like I told them (Tuesday). This is not a panic speech. Everyone asks about what we are doing, but it is what we are not doing. Certain guys say certain things about things being hard, but this game is hard. It is also about your ability to compete at a high level and understand.”
LSU is 1-1 on the season, while Tennessee-Martin comes in with victories in their two home games – 70-49 over MacMurray College last Friday and 79-56 over Centenary on Monday. Reuben Clayton, a senior guard, has averaged 20.5 points in the first two games. This will be the fourth time the teams have met with LSU winning the prior three matchups.
LSU is led by Andre Stringer at 17.5 points per game hitting 7-of-17 three-pointers (41.2 percent) with eight assists and six turners, one of the two players (the other Ralston Turner) to have a positive assist-to-turnover ratio in the early going.
After this game, LSU travels to Tupelo, Miss., Friday evening to prepare for a Sunday 4 p.m. contest with Memphis that will be televised by CBS College Sports.
LSU Basketball can be followed on Facebook at www.Facebook/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJohnson.
LSU Head Coach Trent Johnson
November 17, 2010
Opening statement …
“Obviously it is pretty simple, but it is hard to do. I am just going to read some stats to you because it just reinforces the things that we have been talking about to this team and the things that we have been working on to this team. Everybody understands that we are shooting 48 percent from the field and 39 percent from beyond the arc. We are shooting 70 percent from the free throw line, and we have 21 assists and 43 turnovers. Our opponents, in two games, are shooting 39 percent from the field and 28 percent from beyond the arc. They are shooting 57 percent from the free throw line. We have 16 offensive rebounds and they have 35 offensive rebounds. We have 43 turnovers and they have 22. At home, through two games, the score is 140-140.
“That speaks volumes to everything that I believe and that this group has got to believe, which is that if you defend, rebound and take care of the ball, then you have an opportunity to be successful. We talked about it and worked on it. The thing that bothers me is that we have two guys on this team that in two games have more assists than turnovers – and they are both freshman. The majority of our turnovers and breakdowns defensively are coming from guys that have been in the program for two or three years. That is where we are at. The only positive in all of this is that it is early. Again, I want to make sure that everybody understands like I told them (Tuesday) night. This is not a panic speech. Everyone asks about what we are doing, but it is what we are not doing. Certain guys say certain things about things being hard, but this game is hard. It is also about your ability to compete at a high level and understand.”
On whether he is happy that the team’s poor play has happened early …
“I don’t accept losing or any aspect of breakdowns defensively or anything like that at any point in time. What we are talking about is with certain individuals. Again, it is your ability to compete. This is a nice group of kids, but nice will only get you so far.”
On Aaron Dotson being healthy this season …
“It means that it is good when he is playing within himself and playing up to his capabilities. In the first game he had a nice game offensively, but there were some things he could have done better defensively. (Tuesday) night, however, he was awful in terms of how he took care of the ball. So, he is healthy, and we need him to be healthy and we need him to play at a consistent rate throughout the entire season.”
On whether he is easing Matt Derenbecker into more playing time …
“I am not trying to ease anybody into anything and the matchup wasn’t different. It is just that the previous game, Aaron, Ralston and Andre Stringer were shooting the ball well, so Matt’s minutes were limited. (Tuesday), Aaron and Andre struggled a bit, so it was an opportunity for him to get more minutes. We have got to get nine or ten guys where they are playing at a consistent rate. We need to get Dennis Harris back on the floor because he enables us to do some things offensively and he has some length and a nose for the ball. However, he is also a guy that has got to learn to play with contact.”