BROADBEACH, Australia – The LSU Tour Down Under traveled by air from Sydney to the country’s Gold Coast and prepared for Tuesday’s third game against the Queensland All-Stars in a game to be played in the city of Brisbane.
Game time is 4:30 a.m. CT early Tuesday morning for the 7:30 p.m. contest on Tuesday night at the NAB Stadium. The game will be audio streamed it was announced late Monday by the Queensland Basketball Association.
LSU was 1-1 on the Sydney part of the trip, defeating the Newcastle All-Stars in Newcastle, 89-75, on Saturday night before losing to the Sydney Kings of the National Basketball League, 97-95, on a late bucket with 3.6 seconds to play.
The Tigers arrived at their hotel late in the afternoon on Monday and went to the nearby Carrara Indoor Stadium where the team worked out for about an hour prior to returning to the hotel and then heading out for an evening dinner.
Through two games, Ben Simmons is leading the scoring, averaging 24.0 points a game with 7.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game. Simmons had a double double of 22 points, 10 rebounds in the Newcastle win, while he posted 24 points and 8 assists in the loss to Sydney.
Four other players are averaging in double figures through two games – Tim Quarterman at 18.5 ppg, Antonio Blakeney at 14.0, Keith Hornsby 12.0 and Brandon Sampson 11.5 points in the two games.
LSU averaged 92.0 points in the two games, compared to 86.5 points for the opponents. LSU is shooting 46.7 percent for the two games from the field, 44.1 percent for the opponents. LSU was 15-of-50 from the arc, compared to 12-of-42 for opponents. The two teams have had the advantage on the boards, averaging 42.5 rebounds over the two games, with LSU rebounding at a 36.5 average.
One thing about the trip so far with a back-to-back set of games and then the trip and one-day turn around to Tuesday’s game in Brisbane, it gives the coaching staff a teaching point to the type of schedule they may face in the Southeastern Conference and NCAA Tournaments.
“The thing is these were back-to-back games (Saturday and Sunday) and they were tough, physical games. I thought our guys did a great job and they were conditioned well to play extremely hard and physical for the entire 40 minutes. I thought the guys did a great job of giving a strong effort,” said LSU Coach Johnny Jones.
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