BATON ROUGE –ESPN and the Southeastern Conference has announced the start time for the Saturday, Feb. 27 home game with Florida and the LSU Athletics Department has also now announced the time for the unveiling that same day of the statue honoring LSU and NBA icon Bob Pettit.
The game between the Tigers and Gators will tip off at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN and tickets for the game are available at LSUtix.net and the LSU Athletics Ticket Office. That will be the next-to-last home game for the Tigers and less than 500 tickets are still available for purchase for the game.
The statue, honoring the 1954 LSU graduate who was the first player in any sport to have his number retired at LSU that same year, will be unveiled in ceremonies outside the Assembly Center beginning at 4:30 p.m. The ceremony is open to the public as the LSU All-American, NBA Champion and Naismith Hall of Famer member will be honored with his statue joining Shaquille O’Neal’s in front of the LSU Basketball practice facility. The statue honoring the 83-year-old Pettit was announced last fall by the LSU Athletics Department.
When Russell Westbrook won MVP honors in the NBA All-Star Game this past Sunday, he became the first player to win back-to-back all-star game MVP honors since Pettit in the 1950s. Pettit played three-years at LSU, helping LSU to two SEC titles and the 1953 NCAA Final Four. In the NBA, he played in 11 All-Star games, was Rookie of the Year in 1955, MVP in 1956 and 1959 for the season and in 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1962 in the All-Star game. His St. Louis Hawks won the title in 1958.
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