BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers, now tied at the top of the Southeastern Conference at the halfway point with a 7-2 record, opens the second half of play at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday at 5 p.m. against Mississippi State University.
The Tigers and Bulldogs game will be televised on ESPN2 with Mark Jones and Kara Lawson on the commentary, with Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and host Kevin Ford calling the game on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge).
Tickets for the game are available online at LSUtix.net and at the upper concourse ticket windows beginning at 3:30 p.m. Upper level tickets that remain will be available for $5 and as always, LSU students are admitted free.
LSU fans will be treated to giveaways before (LSU Basketball Tumblers) and during the game (t-shirts and more) with halftime entertainment provided by the Tigers Girls. There will be a Papa John’s student contest during the intermission and the Dow Chemical Soldier Salute will take place as part of second half activities.
LSU is 14-8 overall, 11-2 in the Maravich Center, rebounding well from a loss to No. 1 Oklahoma last Saturday with an 80-68 win at Auburn on Tuesday. Mississippi State is 9-12 overall and 2-7 in the SEC in Ben Howland’s first year as head coach.
Ben Simmons leads the LSU starters with 19.5 points per game and 12.5 rebounds along with 4.95 assists per game. Also expected to start for what would be the fourth consecutive game is Craig Victor II at forward (13.0 ppg, and 6.4 rebounds) and Jalyn Patterson (5.4 ppg, 1.8 rpg), Keith Hornsby (12.7 ppg, 2.5 rpg) and Tim Quarterman (11.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.5 apg) at guards.
Quarterman left the Auburn game on Tuesday in the second half which was announced on the SEC Network as a hip issue, but Coach Johnny Jones listed him as probable for Saturday’s game. The practices Thursday and Friday were closed so no announcement was made as to his practice status.
State is projected to start four guards: Quinndary Weatherspoon (10.7 ppg, 4.3 rpg), Malik Newman (13.2 ppg, 3.0 rpg), I. J. Ready (10.1 ppg, 4.3 apg) and, Craig Sword (12.5 ppg, 3.9 rpg). Gavin Ware, who had 28 points in 29 minutes off the bench in Mississippi State’s 82-80 overtime loss to Alabama in Starkville on Tuesday, is projected to start at the forward position.
Follow updates on the game at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and on Twitter @LSUBasketball.
LSU Head Basketball Coach Johnny Jones met with the media on Thursday afternoon and here were some of his comments:
Opening Statement…
“We had another really good, positive win for us in conference on the road at Auburn, a place where we certainly went into the game with concerns because of the fact of the way that they played against Kentucky and their victory versus Kentucky there and also Alabama. We knew that we approached the game with caution. Our guys did a great job of being focused, coming out and playing well. That’s after a setback here at home. Our team has the ability to grow. They’ve shown that and have been able to move on from game to game. We made sure that we took the approach of playing a team, regardless of their record, making sure we had our focus on them. We are excited about that and looking forward to the new challenge in front of us. Mississippi State is another team that’s going to require our full attention, a team that’s been in a lot of close games as well. They are certainly a big concern for us. There will certainly have to be attention to detail to make sure that if we want to continue to extend our one game win streak and continue to do well with our conference record.”
On the team’s ability to bounce back from the loss against Oklahoma and win at Auburn…
“What the focus should be is that (Oklahoma) was out-of-conference, it was the No. 1 team in the country and a lot of people would think and consider there had to be a lot of emotions to go into that game, which it did with the way it played out. At the end of the day, having an opportunity to go and get back into conference play as though we haven’t missed a step in terms of preparation and getting ready to play says a lot about these guys’ focus … They were able to understand how hard they played (against Oklahoma), put forth a great effort and were able to move from it without any regrets.”
On the main focus heading into practice…
“Our main focus is really going to be on our opponent, Mississippi State. We did turn the ball over, but I thought some of those occurred late in the game, after we were up 20. The focal point would be lack of focus and concentration down the stretch and improving. Instead of going from 20 to 10, we need to make sure we go from 20 to 30 if we have a lead, making sure that we are executing at the maximum and continuing to defend well, executing on the offensive end well with attempts instead of turnovers. Those are some things we have to guard against. We’re going to play fast. We are going to take chances. We are going to get some turnovers, but you don’t want them late in the game like that, which gives teams opportunities to knock down threes and cut into our score late in games.”
On Keith Hornsby‘s playing efficiency…
“We are really pleased with Keith Hornsby. We are fortunate that we are able to rest him (averaging approximately five minutes a game less than last year). After (an) injury for him as well, we have to make sure that we remain conscious of his injury and how much pounding we are putting on him during games as well. We are fortunate that we have other guys that we can get in the game and that we can put in so that we don’t slip up. Last year, we had to stretch him because we were short bench wise. His productivity has been good for us on the floor. He’s been efficient. He’s been shooting the ball well. He’s around 50 percent. That’s huge for a perimeter guy from the outside. Defensively, he’s continued to grow and get better at his decision making.”
On Ben Simmons‘ aggressiveness helping team …
“Anytime, especially when we can run our fast-break and our up-tempo style and can get him out on the break and get the ball to him, he’s good at attacking. When we get in our half-court sets, we have to become a better passing team. We had some turnovers trying to feed our post areas. He’s good with his back to the basket, as well, not only scoring but also creating opportunities for other guys because if they collapse on him, he can pitch it out and give guys confidence in terms of being shooters. His mode of being able to attack really helps us, especially if teams chose not to double us early in the post. If a team chooses not to double him early that helps us. We can get in attack mode. He’s a very high percentage shooter, so that’s huge for us.”
On Mississippi State’s Malik Newman…
“He can shoot, he’s explosive and is a good scorer. He’s really been playing good for them, shooting the ball well up into the other night where he probably didn’t have his best game, but we know how capable he is and what a threat he is out there on the floor. Just like any other games he’s played in, I’m sure he’ll play with a certain edge here on Saturday, trying to bounce back from his game against Alabama the other night.”
On Mississippi State’s Gavin Ware…
“He’s strong, has good feet, good hands, effective, knows how to utilize his body, knows how to play angles. He’s really a really powerful, good, strong player.”
“… I think (he’s) defined as really fundamentally sound and not flashy but gets the job done. That’s how he is. He’s just really sound and makes good solid plays.”
On the unforced turnovers at Auburn…
“We had one step out of bounds when Tim Quarterman was running up the floor in the first half and Ben Simmons went over the top to him. He stepped out because he was too wide on the floor. The other was a hustle play by Keith Hornsby when he was on the baseline tight roping. I thought he had established his feet back on the court prior to batting the ball in. The officials saw it a different way. That was considered another turnover for us as well. Some of those just kind of add up. We had a couple where Ben made long passes in the first half – one to Jalyn Patterson, the other one to Craig Victor II – and both of those went out. Right at the end of the half … Ben went inside going in for a layup and the guy some kind of way got the ball out of his hands. That was another one. We had some turnovers … They all count to our turnovers and you don’t get attempts because of it. When you’re shooting a high percentage like we are, you prefer attempts instead of turnovers. That will certainly help us.”
On his thoughts on his team at the halfway point of conference play…
“We know how tough of a conference it is. Anytime you can have success on the road, it’s huge for you. We are sitting here 7-2 right now, knowing the caliber of teams we had to play against—No. 1 and No. 2 picked teams in the conference in the first two games … I’d say we’ve been playing pretty well. We understand what we’ve gone through in the early part of the season and the setbacks we’ve had. We are hopeful that has prepared us for a great conference race, regardless of who was missing, who wasn’t available and who was hurt. Other guys are getting minutes, playing time and our growth during that time has helped us and prepared us for the great, tough challenges that we are facing in conference now.”