BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team gets back on the home floor Tuesday night when it hosts the Auburn Tigers in a 6 p.m. game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be nationally-televised on ESPNU and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network (New Country 100.7 FM The Tiger).
Tickets are available at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office, online at www.LSUtix.net and at the upper concourse windows of the Maravich Center beginning at 4:30 p.m. Tickets start at $15 for adults and $5 for youth (ages 3-12).
The first 2,000 fans receive LSU basketball water bottles and the halftime show will be the Air Elite dunking crew. LSU students, who get in with valid student ID, are back in school and it will be student point night where LSU students can earn priority points for their attendance at the game.
LSU and Auburn have identical 11-6 records and 1-2 wins in the league. Both teams have beat Ole Miss with LSU winning at home on Jan. 7, 81-55, and Auburn needing double overtime to beat Ole Miss, 69-68, on Saturday at the Auburn Arena.
Justin Hamilton has been the big player for LSU in the first three SEC games, averaging 18.3 points and 10.0 rebounds, including 20 points at Arkansas on Saturday. He is averaging 13.4 points for the season, having raised his average 1.8 points since the start of 2012. The Iowa State transfer, who is shooting 50.6 percent from the floor, is 14th in the SEC in scoring and 10th in rebounds (7.5).
Andre Stringer is also averaging in double figures among the starters at 11.4 points per game. He has had double figures in two of the league games since returning to the team after missing five games in December after a fainting incident prior to the Dec. 10 Boise game.
Auburn has three players nearly equal in scoring rank with Frankie Sullivan averaging 11.6 points per game after scoring 19 against Ole Miss. Kenny Gabriel is averaging 11.5 points and Chris Denson 11.1.
The teams split the two meetings last year, each winning on the other’s home court.
LSU will go on the road after this game to Florida on Saturday for a 6 p.m. EST game at the O’Connell Center to be televised regionally by FSN.
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LSU Men’s Basketball Media Session
January 16, 2012
Head Coach Trent Johnson
Opening Statement…
“We had a good practice. For the players and for us as a staff, I think it was tough to put the last game behind us versus Arkansas because we competed so hard. The ball just did not go down for us. Arkansas is a good basketball team. The good thing about this conference, and the good thing about the sport of basketball is the next game comes quick. Auburn is playing well. They are much improved individually and collectively. It appears that they try to slow the pace down. Their game at home against Kentucky was very impressive; four-point game with 3:30 to go. I watched them play Ole Miss, and they found a way to win that game. They gritted it out, which is what a lot of teams are doing in this league early on. We had a good spirited practice which I didn’t expect it any different. Tomorrow is important for us because it is the next game. Obviously, we lost two games in a row early in the year during the non-conference schedule, and we responded very well. We need to do the same tomorrow.”
On stopping the two-game losing streak…
“There is no bleeding. This is a different team, this is a different year. I, because of my nature, I avoid talking about the past with this team. That is just how I am. One of the first things I need to do because of how college athletics is and how everybody wants to dwell on the past as opposed to the present. I told them this. Since I’ve been here, this has been the toughest non-conference schedule that any team has played. It speaks volumes because right now on this basketball team there is not a guy that you say, that you can go to and get 20 points a game. There is not a guy on this team going into this year that was an all-league candidate, an All-American honorable mention candidate, all that kind of stuff. That team that I inherited (in 2008-09), there were three guys going into the year that were of that magnitude. It speaks volumes to this group on how well they played and how well they competed with exception to one game, the Alabama game. Now moving forward, that’s all you need to dwell on is what is in this locker room and the present moment and enjoy playing. I fully expect that. Before you start jumping on a slide and all those terms, let’s just give this group a chance to play through a little, and it is just a little adversity. They have already responded, they have already responded in a very favorable fashion during non-conference.
On the shot selection…
“We chart everything. When you start talking about shot selection, this team for the most part this year which is a mystery to me, we have had more unguarded and more open shots than I can remember. I made this comment to them as a group when we watch video tape. When we look at it, Virginia was a game in which everything was really contested because of the way they played. Alabama, Arkansas and Marquette, when they come with multiple types of pressure, you are going to find open looks. You are going to get guys open in transition. The ball just hasn’t gone down for guys. Ralston (Turner) maybe four or five for his last 24 [shooting]. I do know this, 15 of them [the shots] are in rhythm, and they are open. That is just part of the game. I don’t worry about that. The one thing I do worry, what we do talk about and what we do work at is when you are in a two-on-one situation or in a late clock situation like we were versus Arkansas before the half. I wanted to go thumbs down, and I told Anthony (Hickey) ‘now look, make a good decision and get the last shot.’ We knew we had an advantage to get into the lane and then Storm (Warren) tried to be the hero and tried to make a play. Those things you have to correct, those things are correctable. In terms of our shot selection, yeah, but in terms of our offensive efficiency and in terms of making the proper pass at the proper time sometimes, I can’t say we have done a good job of that. That is to be expected sometimes when you have a freshman running the point. I think everybody is accustomed to what Justin (Hamilton) is capable of doing now. When you have (Andre) Stringer out of the lineup for a while because of an injury, and then you have Ralston in and out of rhythm missing shots, that’s what happens. Then you take Johnny (O’Bryant III) out of the equation, that is not an excuse that is just what happens. We have to knock down shots, continue to shoot with confidence and move forward.”
On the importance of the Auburn game with the upcoming schedule…
“It is a game. I’m not being negative and not being condescending. I don’t think like that, I don’t let the team think like that. It is just a game. In a lot of people’s mind, the best win we have had so far in non-conference was we beat Marquette. What happens if we beat Marquette, come out and not play at a high level at North Texas? For me, the most important game was the North Texas game. I think everyone is putting too much emphasis on what has happened in the past. All I know is this. If we don’t compete at a high level and take Auburn like whoever else is coming up next, we are going to have problems. This is a different team, this is a different year. The good thing I feel about, and I said this earlier in the year. If you don’t have a level of success and we get beat, it’s because that team is better than we are at this point and time.”
On Ralston Turner‘s recent struggles …
“I have had my share of guys, whether they have been in the post or whether they have on the perimeter, there is only one thing you can do. You can stay positive with that individual. Obviously, he gets in, and he works. He is a high-caliber kid. If there is no mechanical flaws, in terms of him being aggressive and taking the shots that he normally takes when he is making them, that is it. He has a tendency, at times, that when he isn’t shooting well, he is short. I look at the shots he took at Arkansas, and they were all in rhythm. He probably turned down one or two and put it on the deck, but they are good shots. Since I have been with him a year and half two years, he is streaky. You need to credit defenses sometimes too because when you are a perimeter player, you change defenses it gets you out of rhythm. It is easy to play in the post and play with your back to the basket because all you have to do is run down to the block, and they can throw it to you. If you have a skill package, then you can go to work. As a perimeter player, you run your off staggers – you run your off screens then when you decide to put the ball on the floor, everybody’s defense is rotating to where they help. When you have guys like him who work at their game and it is important to them, I just tell them to continue to shoot the ball. The only time I get after Ralston or anybody is when they turn down a shot because they have missed two or three. He is not the only one on this basketball team that is not shooting the ball well. Ralston is a scorer, he is a volume shooter but he is a scorer. His mid-range game, off one dribble two dribble, there has been improvements there. He is a scorer, but he is not the only one [not shooting well]. Obviously, for me, I need to be positive with them. Whether it is John (Isaac) or whether it is Anthony (Hickey) when he has troubles, I have to do a better job on getting them shots and getting them in rhythm. I’m not trying to bail them out, per say. That’s where I start. The last two games, in terms of Ralston, he has gotten two quick fouls in the first half, and you take him out. He has never really gotten in a flow in the second half.”
On injuries…
“Andre (Stringer) has a slight hip pointer, but he is fine. Everybody is healthy with the exception with Johnny (O’Bryant III). Johnny is making progress. If it was up to Johnny, he would like to play now with a lot of pain. Everybody is fine, Justin’s ankle is pretty much at 100 percent. We are getting healthier per say, but we’re fine.
On road games…
“We learned our lesson on the road (during) non-conference. What I mean by that, there is a fine line and you need to be at your best. We beat a very good Houston team that was playing really well in non-conference at their place. That Houston team beat Arkansas at their place earlier in the year. That is Arkansas lone home loss. I think this group knows. I hate to use this, but I think that it is what it is. When you look at the game and analyze if from a realistic perspective, I’m talking about the Arkansas game, we are not talking about a (losing) slide. We’re not talking about any of that if a guy makes four more baskets and then they have two guys that jump up and make two threes. For me, I look at it prior to the closing of the half, the last three minutes, we had some unforced turnovers that will eventually bite us in the face. We made some bad decisions. We had 10 turnovers at half and we didn’t handle their pressure in space. Forget what the score was at the end of it. Those things are going to eventually come to bite you against good teams and good people.”