BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team closes out the home regular season portion of its basketball schedule on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. when it hosts the Missouri Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game will be televised on the SEC Network with John Saunders, Jon Sundvold and Kaylee Hartung on the call. The game will also be on the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge). Tickets are available at LSUtix.net, all day Tuesday at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and at the upper concourse ticket windows of the Maravich Center beginning at 6:30 p.m.
Prior to the game at approximately 7:45 p.m., LSU’s three seniors – Keith Hornsby, Josh Gray and Henry Shortess – will be honored prior to the game. At halftime, the “Voice of the Tigers” will receive a tribute and recognition on his final regular season home game of LSU basketball broadcasts that with the exception of the 1981-82 season, date back to the 1979-80 season.
Also to be given away at the doors is the limited edition Jim Hawthorne bobblehead of him at his broadcast table with headset. The bobblehead will be available with a limit of one per individual fan while supplies last.
As LSU prepared for Missouri, news was received regarding two of LSU’s freshman as Antonio Blakeney earned his second Southeastern Conference freshman of the week honor when he was named the co-recipient along with Kentucky’s Jamal Murray. Blakeney scored a career-high 32 points and made 8-of-8 free throws in the final 28 seconds to lead the Tigers to win over Florida. He had 22 earlier in the week against Arkansas.
The Sarasota, Florida freshman has averaged 20 points over the last seven games with six games in double figures.
Also Ben Simmons was named a finalist for two awards presented by the United States Basketball Writers Association – the player of the year Oscar Robertson Trophy and the freshman of the year Wayman Tisdale Award. A total of 11 players are still alive for the Robertson Trophy, while the list of finalists for the Tisdale Award is just five.
LSU is 17-12 overall, 10-6 in the league, one game out of the lead of Kentucky and Texas A&M and in a three-way tie with South Carolina and Vanderbilt for third. A win Tuesday will go a long way to helping LSU clinch a possible top four seeding and a double-bye to the quarterfinals. Missouri is 10-19 overall and 3-13 in the league under second year Coach Kim Anderson.
Coach Johnny Jones met with the media on Monday prior to practice and here were some of his comments:
Opening Statement…
“Coming off of, what we always consider after we have a victory, a good win for us on Saturday, we look forward to the challenges in front of us tomorrow against a very tough, hard-nosed playing basketball team in Missouri. Guys have been in a lot of games this year and have had success against good teams. They got a victory versus South Carolina and against a Tennessee team that we feel is very creative and tough off the bounce in scoring. In other games as of recent, they have been very competitive. Coming out tomorrow, it’s the last home game for us this season. With two games left, people are vying for spots and are playing extremely hard. We will be one of those teams. Missouri, with youthfulness like us being a very young team, they will be out to play and improve and continue to get better as the conference tournament nears. We will have to be at our best and play extremely hard tomorrow against this team as we continue to try to improve as the season progresses and getting toward the NCAA tournament as well.
“We have a group of guys that we want to make sure we send out in the proper way in the seniors in Josh Gray and Keith Hornsby along with a third-year guy in Henry Shortess who will be graduating as well. We all know this is the last time at home that this nucleus of guys will have an opportunity to play and perform at a level that we would love to see. The great crowds we have had here in the PMAC, we want to make sure that we have that crowd here to send those guys out and to give us energy that they have provided all year long. We want to make sure that they have an opportunity to see this team in person on this floor as we finish the season here at home so that they can appreciate this nucleus of guys and for our guys to give back to them as they have done all year long. They’ve been great for us. We are 7-1 here at home so far in league play. Last year we were sitting at 5-4. That’s a huge stride for us as we continue to improve.”
On the seniors…
“I’ll start with Henry Shortess, a guy that I watched play here locally in high school. I never thought that he would possibly put on a LSU uniform. I thought he would have gone off to a Division II or NAIA school and maybe play tennis. He is an excellent tennis player and would get his education, maybe play basketball somewhere because he was a good shooter. I saw him here on campus and offered him an opportunity to maybe come out and be a part of the program. I had him work out with our guys. We got more than we bargained for with him because asking him to come out and be part of the team was one thing, but the leadership, ownership he took on as a walk-on in the position he was in, meant a lot. It showed a lot. He’s been a very intricate part of our team and has really impacted us from the areas that he could. We’ve been really grateful for that and have a great deal of respect for him.
“Josh Gray, this is the first time since the 10th grade that he’s been at the same place two years in a row. We are glad that he saw enough in the program and his growth from that one year to trust and believe in the program enough that he would still be here. He’s done a tremendous job being a part of the program for us. He’s had a lot of bright spots and has helped us in a lot of games, be it offensively and defensively. We’ve seen him grow as a person. We look forward to watching him walk across the stage with a degree in hand, hopefully, in May, something in an area that I’m not sure that he possibly thought could happen for him so soon. He’s been a joy to work with. His attitude daily at practice is something that has helped us continue to grow as a team. As competitive as he is, to come from averaging 33 point per game to being asked to play a certain role, we have to admire what he has done and the buy-in he’s had with this team.
“Keith Hornsby, a third year guy and senior for us, we first saw in him his ability to shoot. We thought he could come in and play a certain role for us and not realize that he would impact the team the way that he has over the three years. The year that he sat, he sat out and what he provided in practice every day for us just being in the locker room and being around. I still say in over 30 years of coaching at the Division I level, he’s the hardest working guy that I’ve ever been around. His approach to the game and the focus that he has out there on the floor, he’s really relentless. He too is one of those guys that we were recruiting him for certain things and got even more, much, much more than we knew we were getting at the time because of the leadership, hard work and impact he has made on this team, starting from the last two year. The way that he scored was a big part of our reason for getting to the NCAA tournament last year. After becoming eligible, he’s one of the reasons we put ourselves in the position to have an opportunity to repeat and go back to the tournament because of the impact he made out there on the floor for us. We are saddened that he probably won’t be in uniform tomorrow, so he could play his last regular season home game for us in front of a great crowd. I know our fans will do a great job in showing their appreciation of him as we go through the ceremonies prior to tip off Tuesday. “
On the NCAA Tournament bubble watch…
“Last year we were in a similar situation. We had won five home games and were going to Arkansas to play, not knowing that was going to put us at 11 wins last year. We had our share of setbacks. Matter of fact, it may have been to Tennessee or someone here at home prior to going on the road and having a setback like that to go play a big game. I’m not sure that we weren’t in the same position, trying to make sure that we did what we were capable of doing and controlling what we could control. That’s where we are with this team. The league is in much better shape and stronger than it was a year ago. With what the commissioner of our league has done in mandating and talking about the out-of-conference scheduling, our league is in the top-four in terms of strength of schedule. It wasn’t in that position a year ago. It’s where we are in league raising in RPI. All of those are positive for our league this year. Our league is a lot tougher. We wound up getting five teams in last year. I’m hopeful that because of the aggressive nature of what our conference office has done and what the coaches have been able to do in this league that it’s going to pay off for the teams in this league at the end of the day.”
On the importance of the Missouri game Tuesday…
“It makes the Kentucky game important. If we can have success Tuesday, there’s a chance that we can control our destiny right now. We could possibly be playing for the conference championship on their floor. That’s the beauty of this season. When you talk about our team, we weren’t in the position that we are in right now. We are only a game out of first place. If you would have told us back in November that with two games left in the season that you will be a game back of first place, I’m sure that we would be pretty excited to be in a position like that. That’s what we are. That’s the challenge for us. There’s a big game for us tomorrow. That’s the most important game on our schedule is Missouri because if we don’t do well in that game, then we are not in that position to be playing for a conference championship on Saturday.”
On Ben Simmons‘ impact on the program…
“One of the things I’d like to highlight is that Ben committed to us over two-and-a-half, three years ago. The attention that we received right off of the bat because of his commitment, prior to Ben arriving and getting here in June of last year, after we went to the conference and NCAA Tournament last year, I don’t think we spent a week since then out of the national media’s sight. In some capacity or another from the NCAA tournament last year up until today, there’s been some article or feature or something talking about LSU basketball. Ben’s presence and the success of the program over the last few years has led to that. Ben’s presence here has been really good and positive in what he’s been able to do with a young basketball team and to take an opportunity to come here when you don’t have the services of a Jarell Martin or Jordan Mickey and knowing that those guys would possibly be gone. To come in and take ownership of a team and have pride and be excited about doing it, to come in and play like he has and the impact he’s made on our team, the program has been superb. I know we’ve had success over the last three and a half year, but I have to believe wholeheartedly that the buzz that was created in the No. 1 high school player in the country being here and a guy who is projected to be the No. 1 player in the draft has really helped create that type of crowd and the atmosphere that we were hoping so much to have here over this past year. In a lot of ways, he’s really impacted our program in a very positive way. We are really excited about that and the way that he’s conducted and carry himself during that time.”
On Antonio Blakeney hitting his stride….
“Another freshman that has taken some time. We knew how explosive and what a talent he was coming out of high school. The beauty of it was that he played with Ben Simmons during the summer. They became very close. That’s one of the reasons that we were able to get Antonio Blakeney here because he knew the talent that Ben was and how unselfish he was. He wanted to have a chance to come and play with him because of how Ben played with him during the summer. He made sure he got the ball to him when he was open. With Keith being down, Antonio has become more aggressive because we need some help in filling that void as a team. Ben has done an excellent job with him in reminding him of how explosive he was and what a great player he was and the ability he has to shoot the ball. Ben has really been good for him, has been a good teammate to help him with his confidence.”
On the keys against Missouri…
“We have to try to contain the basketball. Guards have gotten to the rim on us. We have to do a good job of trying to control the paint area. We have to be efficient offensively in what they do, their change-ups and things on the defensive end of the floor. We have to be efficient in trying to attack what they are doing on the defensive end of the floor. The third thing is that we have to rebound the basketball. We have to do a great job of getting back to our ways of winning the war on the boards. That’s important for us.”
On Saturday’s finish versus Florida…
“You have to make sure that you execute. You have to make shots on the other end and make people go away, be it free throws or executing offensively. We have to make sure we do a great job of building that wall so that guys don’t have easy scoring opportunities. They wound up throwing up some threes that went in for them. Low percentage guys were taking a couple of them. Unfortunately, that’s sometimes how the game unfolds. There’s no pressure on those shots. When they go down like that, teams get back in the game. You have to, as a team, be able to manufacture a way to make sure that you pull it off. Antonio Blakeney wound up hitting 8-of-8 (free throws) down the stretch, which was big for us. It took that to really win the game. That’s expected. You didn’t expect Florida was going to come in and quit after they got down 14, 16 points that they were. They continued to battle and play hard, knock down some huge shots and were able to get out of here.”