BATON ROUGE – Two events dominated Saturday at the home of LSU Basketball, the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and both have important ramifications in their respective areas.
The first is the unveiling of the statue for LSU and NBA icon Bob Pettit in an open to the public ceremony in the plaza outside the practice facility of the Maravich Center. The ceremony is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.
Lowe on Bob Pettit | Pettit by the Numbers
Then at 7:30 p.m., the LSU men’s basketball team has its chance to get back on the winning track and improve its 6-1 lead mark at the Maravich Center when the Tigers host the Florida Gators. LSU is 9-6 in the league (16-12) overall and tied for fourth with Vanderbilt for the final double-bye spot of the SEC Tournament, which begins on March 9. Florida, still in contention for a top four finish, is 8-7 and in a tie for sixth in the league (17-11 overall).
The game will be televised on ESPN with Bob Wischusen and Dan Dakich, while Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and host Kevin Ford will have the call on the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge).
Tickets for the game are on sale at LSUtix.net and available beginning at 6 p.m. at the upper concourse ticket windows at the Maravich Center. LSU students are admitted for the game free with their student ID. Game tickets are not necessary to attend the 4:30 p.m. unveiling of the Pettit statue.
LSU and Florida are meeting for the second time this season after meeting in the third league game of the year in Gainesville. The Gators won the first meeting, 68-62, in a game in which both teams shot in the mid-30 percent range. The Tigers turned the ball over 17 times and Florida had a 15-5 advantage in points off turnovers.
Michael White, in his first year as the coach of the Gators, is the former head men’s basketball coach at Louisiana Tech.
Ben Simmons had 28 points and 17 rebounds in the game and drew double digit fouls in making 14-of-16 free throws in the contest. Keith Hornsby, who remains out for the contest, was the only other player in double figures with 10.
Dorian Finney-Smith and Justin Leon had 14 points each while John Egbunu had 13 points to pace the Gators.
LSU will be trying to stop a three-game losing streak – at home to Alabama and road losses at Tennessee and at Arkansas.
LSU is expected to go with the same lineup it has used since the Hornsby injury with Simmons (19.5 points, 11.9 rebounds) and Craig Victor II (12.5, 6.1) at the forwards with Antonio Blakeney (11.4 ppg), Jalyn Patterson (4.9 ppg) and Tim Quarterman (10.5 ppg).
Finney-Smith leads Florida with an average of 14.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game while KeVaugh Allen is at 11.5 points per game and Egbunu at 10.7 points.
“(Florida is) good defensively,” said LSU Coach Johnny Jones. “They certainly get the ball up the floor. They have guys who can knock down shots on the perimeter with a steady force inside. We are going to have to be all-around defensively at another level here at home. On the offensive end, we have to execute much better than we have the last couple of games.”
Follow updates on the game and the team at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and @LSUBasketball on Twitter.