BATON ROUGE – After winning its second straight Southeastern Conference game on Tuesday against the University of Georgia, the Tigers began on Thursday to fully turn their attention to the Big 12/SEC Challenge game Saturday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with No. 1 ranked Oklahoma.
The game is set for a 4 p.m. tipoff and will be televised by ESPN and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network. All 10 Challenge games will be televised on the ESPN Family of Networks starting at 11 a.m. with the first set of game with the last game to tip at 7 p.m. with five games at SEC sites and five more at Big 12 sites.
The game is a virtual sellout, as the only remaining seats are those held for LSU students who may come to the arena once it opens 90 minutes prior to tipoff and claim their seats with a valid ID on a first-come, first-serve basis. Because of the expected large turnout, students are requested to arrive early to claim their seats.
The game is being billed as the “Gold Game” and LSU fans are encouraged to wear gold to the Maravich Center on Saturday.
Halftime will feature the incredible Red Panda Acrobat. She has performed her famous unicycle bowl flipping act around the world for over 20 years and will return to the Maravich Center after coming out of retirement last fall.
Also on Saturday, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center will be hosting “Geaux Fit. Be Amazing. 2016.” This event features some of LSU’s most popular coaches and players from sports like women’s basketball, soccer and softball, plus fun health information and demos from Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital that encourage kids to live a more active lifestyle.
The event will be held at the Carl Maddox LSU Field House from 1-3 p.m. prior to the LSU-Oklahoma game. There will be a chance for those attending that event to win free tickets to the basketball game.
Coach Johnny Jones met with the media prior to practice Thursday afternoon and here are some of his comments:
Opening Statement…
“After another exciting win the other night against a very talented and experienced Georgia team, we are looking forward to getting back to practice today after taking Wednesday off from practice. We are looking forward to preparation for the No. 1 team in the country, a team that’s highlighted by Buddy Hield, a guy who has done a tremendous job of scoring and coming back to school for an additional year and has continued to improve in a lot of ways. His numbers are all up and positive from field goal percentage to three-point field goal percentage to his team being ranked No. 1 in the country. They certainly have a lot of really talented guys around him. He’s not a one-man band. They’ve done a great job this year with two setbacks that were closely contested that were on the road. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us Saturday afternoon. We look forward to the challenge and having a chance to play against such quality competition and team.”
On how to prepare for the game the likes of Oklahoma…
“It’s different. I think to the North Florida game with the way that they shoot and how deep they were able to shoot from the perimeter would be one indicator, but you’re talking about three to four guys who are capable of making plays like that and having a center on the floor as well that you have to be accounted for who can pick and pop. (Ryan) Spangler does some great things. They have a great rim protector in (Khadeem) Lattin who is a great shot blocker, rebounder and can change the game on the defensive end of the floor, as well, and a great finisher around the rim. They are totally different from most teams that we’ve played. If you talk about dominance, Kentucky’s No. 1 team last year was more post-dominated and having Booker on the perimeter that was a great shooter. These guys are more perimeter dominating in terms of their ability to shoot the ball. They lead the nation in three-point field goal percentage. When you have guys that are that explosive they can play off the bounce and get to the rim. They’re a different team, and there’s a reason they are where they are right now in terms of rankings.”
On the excitement of facing a No. 1 team…
“We were fortunate enough to play a No. 1 team last year in Kentucky when they were here. The fan base showed up. We did a great job of preparing and playing a team of that caliber and came really close. Unfortunately, we came up a little short with only seconds left there. Any time you have the No. 1 team in the country on your floor, it’s not something you can really schedule into this late in the season. The team that you’re playing had to win x-amount of games. It’s fun for us and a great opportunity not only for our team but for our fan base to have an opportunity and enjoy that up close and personally.”
On the challenge of the Big 12/SEC Challenge being put in the middle of the schedule…
“For what the SEC is trying to accomplish, I think it’s excellent. It’s a time of year that a lot of people are tuned into college basketball. Conversations about the NCAA Tournament are already started. There are several games that are under certain team’s belts that they’ve put themselves in certain positions and have somewhat of an identity as a team. I think it’s really good for us and for the Big 12 as well for the games to take place. I think a lot of people will be tuned in because of it. It’s a great way to showcase both leagues. It can certainly have a great impact for your program or your team this time of year.”
On the preparation for a midseason non-conference game…
“It’s a little bit different. Generally, when you are playing in the league, you have some similarities in terms of the team and know the opponent and the system of the other coach. This will be a little bit different because it’s out of conference. A lot of work, time and attention has to really go into what you’re doing and your preparation. Our approach will be the same. We were able to take yesterday off like we normally would do. That’s required. Today, we will start putting in our scouting and introducing it to our players and try to give them as much information as we possibly can to give them the type of resources that they need for us to possibly have some success against a good team.”
On transition defense…
“We just have to make sure we do a great job in focusing like we always do. We’ve been a great transition defensive basketball team in most of our games this year. We have to make sure that we get back and identify who their shooters are and make sure that we put ourselves in position to try and be there on the catch because they will pull up and shoot. They don’t worry about getting to the line or getting layups a lot. They are very confident in shooting out there. If that’s their early offense, we have to make sure that we guard against that, not giving them any easy looks when they cross half court, especially in transition.”
On the Buddy Hield vs. Ben Simmons talk…
“At the end of the day, the game has really been hyped. It’s been great about Ben’s position and the type of player he is, Buddy as well. Both teams understand it will be the University of Oklahoma and LSU who are going to hit the floor Saturday afternoon. It’s not going to be a Ben or Buddy one-on-one. It’s going to be one of those particular schools. That’s what we are excited about. We’ve been able to play that way throughout the year. Hopefully, when we get between that 94×50 both of these guys are seasoned and have been in enough games and understand the big picture, they will both play the same and at a high level in terms of competing. It’s going to be a hard-fought team effort not an individual.”
On fans camping out before the game…
“We look forward to it. Last year, we had a line wrapped around the tiger cage. It was exciting. We knew with the festive atmosphere that it was going to bring. We are hopeful that Saturday will bring that, especially with our students who have been so fired up and impactful for our team. I can’t tell you how excited we are with how they’ve been involved for each of our games this year, even during the holidays and during the break that they were able to show up. We look forward to that on Saturday as well.”
Thoughts on Tuesday’s finish against Georgia…
“It reminded me that we are a very young, energetic basketball team. We are a work in progress. Getting home that evening watching ESPN and watching playbacks, seeing that there were two or three other games that were played out that way with guys making last second shots and teams getting beaten, we are fortunate that we weren’t one of them that had that setback. It’s part of the process. We had one turnover during that time in trying to inbound a ball. Others were self-inflicted by missing free throws. Because of the way the game was called, it was a little difficult to defend because you didn’t want to stop the clock out on the perimeter and give them easy free throws and then you were trying to protect the rim. It’s tough to play around there. The game was a little different for us, but I commend our guys for how they played it out and then, Antonio Blakeney, a freshman, stepping up to the line and hitting two big free throws to get us home.”
On Antonio Blakeney‘s recent play…
“What has happened to him is that he’s focused and concentrating more on what he’s doing on the defensive end of the floor. His game has flowed because of that. I don’t think he’s so much worried about if it’s a three or two (point shot) outside of him just playing and taking advantage of whatever the situation is. He’s gotten to the rim and has made some big plays for us inside and has played in traffic for us a little bit. He’s knocked down some threes. He’s become more comfortable out there on the floor, focusing with attention to detail in other areas outside of how he’s getting his points.”
On defending Oklahoma…
“We just want to make sure that our guys understand that whoever happens to be in front of them, we need to try to get stops. They have a team full of guys. Buddy Hield is not their leading three-point field goal percentage shooter. He’s actually second. They have three guys in the top four in their league in terms of knocking down three pointers. That’s shooting over 50 percent and high-40s. Those guys are very explosive. We have our work cut out for us. Buddy’s an excellent player. You have to stop their team. They are averaging well over 80 points per game. You have to defend their basketball team, not one individual. If you’re concentrating on him, someone else is going to hurt you. All of our guys have to be prepared and hopefully take some ownership that we are holding their team below average instead of one individual.”