BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers had a light workout on Friday to begin preparations for Monday’s 8 p.m. CT contest at the Univeristy of Utah in the second round of the National Invitation Tournament.
The game will be televised from the Jon Huntsman Center on ESPNU and broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (flagship Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge).
LSU is 18-14 on the year after an 84-76 first-round win at the Maravich Center over UL-Lafayette, while Utah is now 20-11 after the Pac 12 team rally from 11-down in its opening game on Wednesday against UC Davis.
The winner of the game will play the winner of the St. Mary’s/Washington game which is also Monday night. St. Mary’s is the number one seed in the pod, while Washington is a No. 5 games. That game will be played on Wednesday.
NIT SECOND ROUND
DATE, TIME (CT), TV, MATCHUP
March 17, 11 a.m., ESPN, (4) Penn State 73, (1) Notre Dame 63
March 18, 11 a.m., ESPN, (4) Mississippi State at (1) Baylor
March 18, 3:30 p.m., ESPN2, (3) Oregon at (2) Marquette
March 18, 5:30 p.m., ESPN2, (3) Middle Tennessee at (2) Louisville
March 19, 6 p.m., ESPNU, (3) Stanford at (2) Oklahoma State
March 19, 8 p.m., ESPNU, (3) LSU at (2) Utah
March 19, 10 p.m., ESPNU, (5) Washington at (1) Saint Mary’s
March 19, 10:30 p.m., ESPN2, (4) Western Kentucky at (1) USC
Coach Will Wade met with the media Friday afternoon and here were some of his comments:
Opening Statement …
“Getting ready for Utah. We are going to leave (Saturday), try and get out there a little bit earlier as we get ready to play on Monday night. They are a very good ball club. Very good defensively. They are number one in the Pac-12 in FG percentage defense and scoring defense. That is hard to do. They mix their defense. They play man, matchup zone, and regular zone. Very well coached, very good team. The big kid (David) Collette, the transfer, is a good player. They have a versatile four man, number 21 (Tyler Rawson), who is going to be very difficult for us to guard. We haven’t been able to guard those types all year. The point guard (Justin) Bibbins is a transfer from Long Beach State. He is small and very quick. He is an All-Pac-12 performer. They got a three man, number 30 (Gabe Bealer), who can make shots. Their two man, number five (Parker Van Dyke), who can make shots. They are a good team. They don’t compare to anybody that I have seen. There is no easy comparison in the SEC to what they do or how they play. They are a good ball club and it will be a big challenge for us, especially on the road.”
On if Utah is a different style of a program than they have faced …
“Bibbins was a really good player at Long Beach State. They always play tough non-conference schedules every year. Collette was at Utah State and he was a very good player there. They are older, a little bit more mature. They have been through some things. Coach (Larry) Krystkowiak was in the NBA for a while and he has done a great job at Utah. It is his seventh or eighth year there. He is a big guy and does a really good job of coaching those bigs. Their fours and fives are really good.”
On how the team is doing health-wise …
“We are a little bit better (Friday). We are going to do some shooting and things today, not go through as rough of a practice as normal. Just do some shooting. We will practice hard (Saturday) morning before we get on the plane and head out there. Hopefully with some time we will be able to do better. Tremont (Waters) had surgery on Monday to fix the nose and get everything back in alignment. I think he was still feeling some of the effects from the surgery (in Wednesday’s game). Wasn’t quite himself leading up to it and certainly in the game. Skylar (Mays), there isn’t a whole lot that we can do. He had a soft cast on his hand and he takes it off for the game. We put some tape on it, and he guts it out. (Aaron) Epps can practice once every two or three days. We have to be careful with him, and Duop (Reath) goes most of the time. We will kind of stick to what we have been doing the last couple of weeks and see what happens.”
On if it is a challenge to bring some of Wednesday’s intensity on the road …
“Yeah. That was an intense environment. The first time, when it got hot in the kitchen, we didn’t run out. We kind of been doing that at certain points this year, that when it gets hot we run out and hope somebody puts the fire out for us. It was the first time in a while that we stayed in there and fought the fire. You have to be able to do that on the road. It is one thing to do it at home, but you have to do it on the road. You have to overwhelm people on the road with your spirit, with your consecutiveness, with your intensity. That certainly has been a major challenge for us. We will see if we can have a little carry over for that.”
On playing as well as they did against UL-Lafayette without Tremont Waters …
“We did it without Tremont, we did it without (Brandon) Rachal. Rachal really helps us when he is doing what he has been doing the last couple of games. He and Daryl (Edwards) are the two that we have that will stay in there until the bitter end. It was good for us to do that. I thought (Brandon) Sampson stepped up. I have been hard on him and I thought he stepped up. I thought (Wayde) Sims did some nice things for us. Then obviously Duop did extremely well.”
On if they match up well with Utah because of their lack of rebounding …
“In theory, if you look at the numbers. If you look at the numbers, they are as poor as ours. I think it is about the same. It is a pretty negligible difference there. Who knows? We just gave up 21 offensive rebounds. I don’t think we take anything for granted on the backboards. I would say that this is a team we have a chance to compete with on the backboards. I love their kid, number three (Donnie Tillman). When he comes in, he is a terror on the glass. High motor, he is all over the place. Absolutely love him.”
On Utah’s offense …
“They are a very good defensive team. They change their defenses. They build a shell about 18 feet from the basket that is impossible to penetrate. They do a really good job. They force you to take really long jump shots and they go chase them down. The kid, Bibbins, really gets them going in transition. He is small, like Tre, but he can get it and go and feed it into those big guys. They do a good job of playing to those big guys. Good job of playing inside out and putting stress on your defense around the rim.”
On his thoughts on the rules of the NIT …
“I like the rule changes. I really like the quarters. I would be all for adopting that. I liked the flow of the game better. I like the free throw rule. I thought the rules were good. I liked the widened lane.”
On the rule of playing four quarters …
“I just think the game flows a little bit better. The first media in the first quarter is at the under-five minute mark. You get off to a bit of a quicker start. There is a little more strategy involved at the end of quarters. You get a few more possessions in if you go 2-for-1 and that sort of thing. There is a lot more stuff involved in that. I think it gives more natural breaks in the game. College basketball is the only basketball that doesn’t play quarters. High school, NBA, women’s basketball all play quarters. Men’s college basketball is the only one that doesn’t.”