OXFORD, Miss. — The LSU men’s basketball team looks to take some of the lessons learned from a week at home that brought them closer to another Southeastern Conference victory on the road this week starting Wednesday night here at Tad Smith Coliseum against the Ole Miss Rebels.
The game is set to tip off at 8 p.m. CST as part of the Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) package of games. The game will be available live on Cox 4 in the Baton Rouge and Acadiana cable areas and will be seen in the rest of the state on tape delay at 9 p.m. on Cox Sports TV following CST’s coverage of the New Orleans Hornets game.
The game will also be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (WTGE New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger in Baton Rouge) and at www.LSUsports.net/live.
LSU is 10-13 on the season, 2-6 in the first half of league play but on a six-game losing streak, while Ole Miss is 15-8 and 3-5 in the league. The Rebels are coming off wins over Kentucky in Oxford and Arkansas on the road this past week.
Ole Miss has already beaten the Tigers once this year, 78-51 in Baton Rouge, on Jan. 12 when the Rebels shot 70 percent from both the field and the arc (7-10) to blow open a tight game in the second half. Ole Miss shot a season high 62 percent for the game from the field (28-45), while LSU was 15-of-46 from the field with the Rebels holding a 33-19 rebound margin.
Matt Derenbecker led LSU with 14 points in the game while Andre Stringer hit three treys in getting 11 points. The Rebels were led by Chris Warren with 18 points and five assists, while Zach Graham added 17, Nick Williams 14 and Terrance Henry 13 points and 10 boards.
“Obviously, Ole Miss handled us very well at home,” said LSU Coach Trent Johnson during his Monday media session. “They are playing very well. Chris Warren is probably underrated on a national level from the standpoint of a basketball player. Obviously, those of us in the SEC know how special he is. We need to do as good a job as we can to try and contain him. Their skill level, talent and athleticism cause a lot of problems for us. Anytime you can beat a team like Kentucky it speaks volumes to how talented you are.”
LSU lost at home last week to South Carolina (64-56) in a game in which LSU cut the game from 13 to four late, and to Mississippi State (58-57) in which a Mississippi State free throw with 1:59 was the difference as LSU was unable to get a shot up during the final possessions.
“I thought out previous two games at home we had an opportunity to win,” said Johnson. ” I thought the guys were tight (at the end of the Mississippi State game) after looking at the tape over and over again. They didn’t step up and shoot the ball with confidence, and that’ probably a by-product of struggling. We will keep pushing forward and we are getting better in same aspects in terms of defending and rebounding.”
The Tigers will also play on the road on Saturday at Arkansas in a 12:47 p.m. SEC Network contest. LSU’s next home game is Thursday, Feb. 17, against Alabama. Follow LSU Basketball on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJohnson.