BATON ROUGE – After 24 practices and a scrimmage, the LSU men’s basketball team for 2014-15 plays its first public game Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Assembly Center against Morehouse College.
Admission to the game, which tips at 7:02 p.m., is free of charge to all patrons and fans will have a chance to be a part of a halftime contest in which two pairs of tickets to Saturday night’s LSU-Alabama football game will be given away.
The game will be televised digitally on the SECN+ on WatchESPN.com and the WatchESPN app with Lyn Rollins and Collis Temple III. The game will also be broadcast on selected affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) with Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and host Kevin Ford.
The Tigers are under third-year head Coach Johnny Jones, who is in his 20th year at LSU taking into account his four years as players in the early 1980s and 13 years as assistant coach after that under Dale Brown. Jones’ first-two teams at LSU won 19 games in 2013 and 20 games a year ago, advancing to post-season play for the first time since 2009 with one win in the NIT.
In two years, Jones’ 39 wins are the most by any LSU Coach in their first two years as head coach. Now he guides a team that has experience but has some new faces that is predicted anywhere from third to fifth in the SEC voting in the various publications.
LSU returns it’s M & M combo of Baton Rouge’s Jarell Martin and Dallas’ Jordan Mickey. As freshman, both were named to the All-SEC freshman squad, while Mickey was named to the league’s second team and the All-SEC defensive team.
Mickey averaged 12.7 points per game, 7.9 rebounds per game and a league leading 3.1 blocks as he became just the second player (other than Shaquille O’Neal) to block more than 100 shots in a season. Jarell Martin averaged 10.3 points per game and 4.6 rebounds, but finished strong with an 11.4 average in SEC games and double figure scoring in 12 league contests.
Also anticipated as probable starters are UNC-Asheville transfer Keith Hornsby and JC transfer Josh Gray. Hornsby practiced with LSU last year and is chomping at the bit to play again. He averaged 15 points and 3 assists in his second year at UNC-A in 2012.
Gray can shoot and pass and was the leading JC scorer in 2014 at 34.7 points per game but with a good assist-to-turnover ratio of 172-107.
In the other post position will probably be one of the freshmen – either 7-1 center Elbert Robinson or 6-9 forward Aaron Epps, depending on how Coach Jones wishes to start. If LSU elects to go with three guards, Tim Quarterman, a sophomore could be in position for that spot.
LSU is 56-7 all-time in exhibition games with a 14-game exhibition win streak that dates back to 2003.
Morehouse is a Division II NCAA school in Atlanta, Ga., that won seven games a year ago. Senior Austin Anderson is the leading returning scorer on the team with 10.3 point average. The Maroon Tigers won 20 games as recently as 2013 and has won six Black National College Championships in its history. Coach Grady Brewer is in his 15th season as the head coach.
After Friday’s contest, LSU opens its 2014-15 season on Saturday, Nov. 15 at Noon against Gardner-Webb in the Maravich Center. Tickets remain on sale at LSUtix.net. as all non-conference games have individual tickets on sale as well as new season tickets and Pick 3 and Pick 5 miniplans.
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Here are comments from Coach Johnny Jones‘ media session on Wednesday:
HEAD COACH JOHNNY JONES
Opening Statement …
“We are looking forward to our twenty-third practice (Wednesday), and certainly our guys are looking forward to having an opportunity to play in front of our fans on Friday night at 7 p.m. against Morehouse. We’ve had the privilege of scrimmaging against another opponent over the weekend and through those practices and that scrimmage, I think we’ve had the ability to learn a lot about our basketball team and what we are capable of doing. Although we’ve got a ways to go in terms of preparation and continuing to get better, I really like the progress that we’ve made from day one to practice 22. It’s certainly been positive, and I look forward to the challenges we have presented to us prior to our first game.”
On his impressions from the scrimmage…
“I think one of the people that continue to improve is Aaron (Epps). I think Aaron has done a tremendous job. Being a freshman with the transition that he’s made from high school, he’s really played from the post position and is being challenged (at LSU) and put out on the perimeter, similar to Jarell Martin last year, and he’s really been a quick learner. We’ve been happy with that. I thought our guys did a good job of playing together in the scrimmage, as well as sharing the ball. I thought in the first half we showed some really good moments defensively and what we are capable of doing offensively. I thought they did an excellent job of clicking on all cylinders and shooting a high percentage in that game and not having many turnovers for our first night out. I thought that was glaring for us.”
On breaking down the film Monday defensively …
“I think when you look at the numbers we were able to score, the percentage we were able to shoot overall in the scrimmage, it says that we are capable of scoring. Defensively, because of the points that we gave up, not necessarily the field goal percentage, it showed that we have a great deal of room to improve. I wanted to make sure our guys understood that we weren’t exactly hitting on all keys like we should in terms of our rotation and attention to detail. I think that’s what the scrimmage is for, really to give you an opportunity to point out a lot of things that you normally won’t get in your general practices because now you’re looking at something different from another opponent.“
On the potential starters…
“We have the flexibility with this team to go with several different lineups, be it with Elbert (Robinson III), Aaron Epps or Tim Quarterman. We have several guys we could really go with. I think it’s going to be difficult to lock down a permanent starting lineup, and I think that’s a good thing when you have the flexibility that we do as a team. Elbert certainly could be one of those guys that could be in contention for a starting spot.”
On getting nerves out of the way through exhibition competitions…
“I think that (nerves) goes for all of them, the seniors, the juniors, the returning guys. It’s the first opportunity of the season for your fans to be out there. You want to go out and make sure that you have a positive showing during your time out there. I think there may be some nerves when the game starts … As the game is played, I think they would really focus between the lines and get that behind them, and that’s what we look forward to with this group.”
On Aaron Epps‘ improvement…
“I think with his length and as long as he is, if we decide to go with a certain lineup, then we want to make sure that it is one of our quicker, faster lineups; he would be a guy that would be considered for that spot. When you look at Aaron, especially his growth and how smart he is and how much he’s adapted, that could really be good for us. Again, I thought it would be certainly a challenge for him moving out of the position from forward or center in high school to playing one of our perimeter spots right now. At the same time, we will have to transition him into the post area as well, so he will be treated a lot like Jarell Martin was last year in terms of a lot of the duties that he will have on this team, which is good that he is able to carry those out.”
On Keith Hornsby‘s return to playing after year off transferring from UNC-Asheville
“I thought he had a good outing in the scrimmage. I thought he played well. He did some really good things. I thought some of his experience was able to be shown in the scrimmage as well. The exhibition game will be good for him to get a chance to settle in after such a long time against that type of competition.”
Elbert Robinson III‘s weight
“Elbert has really done of good job of getting his weight down. He’s been fluctuating between 265 and 270 pounds. I think for us, that is a comfortable weight to play. He has dropped down from 315. He has really shown that on the floor he has gotten faster, his mobility is better and his conditioning has really improved and that’s probably the hardest he has worked in terms of preparation to get himself in shape. He is probably in the best shape of his life. I feel like he’s got a ways to go as far as his conditioning, we feel like his weight is stable to where he can just continue to work on his body.”