TUPELO, Miss. – The LSU Tigers hope the corrections and improvement they made in their last game carries over to their toughest test of the early season as they leave the friendly confines of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to take on No. 19 Memphis here Sunday afternoon.
Start time for the contest is 4 p.m.
The game is being played in a “neutral” location, the BancorpSouth Arena, but the crowd will be predominately wearing Memphis blue as only a limited number of tickets remained for the contest on Friday.
LSU is 2-1 on the season after a 79-56 win over Tennessee-Martin in which all five LSU players scored in double figures. Malcolm White had his first collegiate double double with 12 points and 15 rebounds, while Storm Warren had his 10th LSU career double double with 12 points and 11 boards.
Freshman point guard Andre Stringer made his first start and for the third straight game led LSU in scoring with 15 points. He leads the Tigers in scoring average at 16.7 points per game. Ralston Turner, another freshman, is averaging 12.3 a contest and sophomore Aaron Dotson is averaging 11.7 points an outing.
Memphis is 3-0 on the season with wins over Centenary, Miami and Northwestern State. Four players – Wesley Witherspoon (14.3), Antonio Barton (11.0), Charlie Carmouche (11.0) and Joe Jackson (10.7) – all average in double figures for Memphis. The C-USA Tigers are averaging 90 points a game.
“They are explosive,” said LSU Coach Trent Johnson. “I’ve seen everybody on tape, and they’re as talented as anybody in the country. (Wesley) Witherspoon is special. He’s six-foot-nine, 210 pounds and there is so much that he does with the ball. He causes a lot of problems. They’re talented, explosive and they’re deep. We’re going to have to handle pressure. I think for the most part we got our aggressiveness handled, so we’ll see if we can build from that. Rebounding wise, I want to see if we can develop some consistency. In that regard, guys blocking out and guys going to the glass. Fifty-eight turnovers in three games, we’ve got to make sure we do a better job there.”
The game will be televised by CBS College Sports and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (WTGE New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge).
The neutral site game is under the auspices of Global Sports and promoter Maury Hanks who put together a series of home games for each team involving Northwestern State, Centenary and Tennessee-Martin with the two teams then meeting here as the major game of the event.
LSU returns back to Baton Rouge after the contest and will prepare for a Wednesday 7 p.m. game at the Maravich Center against Centenary.
LSU Basketball can be followed on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJohnson.
Men’s Basketball Media Session
Nov. 19, 2010
Head Coach Trent Johnson
On upcoming game with Memphis…
“They are explosive. I’ve seen everybody on tape, and they’re as talented as anybody in the country. (Wesley) Witherspoon is special. He’s six foot nine, 210 pounds and there is so much that he does with the ball. He causes a lot of problems. They’re talented, explosive and they’re deep. We’re going to have to handle pressure. I think for the most part we got our aggressiveness handled, so we’ll see if we can build from that. Rebounding wise, I want to see if we can develop some consistency. In that regard, guys blocking out and guys going to the glass. Fifty-eight turnovers in three games, we’ve got to make sure we do a better job there. We’re going to have a drastic change next game because they are going to speed you up. We have a saying, ‘slow and strong, protecting the ball and making good decisions.’ That is going to be tested. And it’s a road game.”
On Miami’s success against Memphis in rebounding…
“Miami is different than we are. They have a six foot ten, 240-pound kid and a six foot seven kid who is about 225 pounds. They have a very experienced point guard who is probably going to play in the NBA. They are different. I’m more about are we going to have the same success as last game. I want us to go into the same mindset to crash the glass and go from there. To say that we are going to have the same success, my mind thinks about the differences in the teams. (Miami) is an experienced junior and senior team that probably will finish in the top half of the ACC if all things go well.”
On his concern for his team…
“I never get caught up in what anybody else is doing. I’m never caught up in the magnitude that one team is ranked and the other team may not be ranked. I’m always going to worry about us. I always have. That’s what I want for the team, especially the young guys to understand that it is respect for your team, respect for your opponent, respect for being aggressive and competing. That is all this is all about.”
On the play of the young players…
“Their approach to the game has been the same. There are going to be mistakes because everything is so new to them. Andre Springer and Ralston Turner have never been in a position in high school where they played a team like Nicholls State with so many patterns and so many back screens. That is all new to them. Matt Derenbecker was a guy in high school who played in a motion system. Now we’re in a situation where you talk about Andre and Ralston, and they could be in a game where they’re going up and down. Ralston played at Lebron James’s camp with a couple of players from Memphis. Matt’s never has been in a game like this. There is another speed to the game and that is where we have inconsistencies. I’m more worried about their mental approach before they understand what we have to do to be successful.”