BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – Hoping the good karma from a win over a ranked West Virginia team on the road carries over, the LSU men’s basketball team will try to get a second win in non-conference play on an opponent’s home court Thursday night when it travels to Bartow Arena to face UAB.
LSU and UAB will tip just after 8 p.m. CT in a game televised on the CBS Sports Network (Rich Waltz, Pete Gillen), with the radio broadcast available in the GeauxZone at LSUsports.net and on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and studio host Kevin Ford).
The radio broadcast will be available on the following stations: Baton Rouge, WDGL (98.1 FM); Alexandria, KSYL (970 AM); Bogalusa, WBOX (92.9 FM); Ferriday, KFNV (107.1 FM); Houma, KJIN (1490 AM); Jena, KJNA (102.7 FM); Lafayette/Opelousas, KLWB (103.7 FM); Lake Charles, KXZZ (1580 AM); Leesville, KJAE (93.5 FM); Monroe, KMLB (540 AM); Morgan City, KFRA (1390 MA); Natchitoches, KWLV (107.1 FM); New Orleans, WWL (870 AM, 105.3 FM); Ruston, KRUS (1490 AM); Shreveport, KWKH (1130 AM); Tallulah, KTJZ (97.5 FM); Tylertown, Mississippi, WFCG (107.3 FM); Ville Platte, KVPI (1050 AM).
LSU is 7-2 on the season after its fourth consecutive win on Saturday night against Sam Houston State, 76-67, while UAB is coming off a Sunday night win over UNC Asheville, 79-71. The last time LSU was on the road this season on an opponent’s home court, the Tigers got a late layup to win 74-73 over No. 16 West Virginia.
As the team arrived in Birmingham Wednesday afternoon LSU’s lineup was in a state of flux as more news was awaited on the status of point guard Josh Gray and backup Tim Quarterman. Gray has not been officially declared out of the game but is questionable after an ankle sprain suffered early in the second half of the Sam Houston game. Coach Johnny Jones said Gray has been undergoing “aggressive treatment” that will allow him to return to action.
Quarterman was banged up at the end of the Saturday contest, but is listed as probable for Thursday’s game. The backup, who has played 30 minutes or more in eight straight games and scored in double figures the last five, would be expected to get the start if Gray cannot go.
Jordan Mickey is coming off his fifth double double of the season for the Tigers in its last game with 21 points and a career high 15 rebounds. He remains among the leaders in the Southeastern Conference ranking fourth in scoring (16.3 ppg) and second in rebounding (10.1 rpg). He is one of two SEC players averaging double figures in rebounds.
Jarell Martin comes in averaging 15.9 points and 9.3 rebounds, while Keith Hornsby is at 12.7 points per contest. Quarterman is at 11.8 points per game and Gray at 11.1 points and 4.7 assists.
UAB is 4-6 on the year, but took down North Carolina last year at Bartow. Of the Blazers six losses, four have come by nine points or less and two by four points or fewer. Robert Brown leads the team in scoring at 12.4 points per game.
The teams met a year ago in Baton Rouge with LSU scoring an 86-63 victory at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
“We are looking forward to another really challenging game Thursday at UAB, the same team that last year about this time knocked off a ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heel basketball team at UAB,” said Coach Jones. “It will certainly be a great challenge for us. They have played some really close games this year against a lot of really tough competition. It’s going to give us an opportunity to go on the road after another victory here at home to see if we can to continue to improve. We may be a little bit hampered because of injuries, and it may cause us to shuffle our lineup a little bit and put us in a different position. At certain times this year, we have had adversity or something has been different for us, and our kids have done an excellent job of filling that void and being able to fight through it. We are going to possibly be presented with that same type of challenge on Thursday night.”
The Tigers return home for one final pre-Christmas contest against the College of Charleston on Monday night at 8 p.m. in the Maravich Center. Tickets are available at LSUtix.net.
Follow updates for the game at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball.