LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – The LSU Tigers look to get back on the winning side of things here Saturday night when they face the Saint Mary’s Gaels in the second game of the Neon Hoops Showcase benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer at the T-Mobile Arena.
The game is set for a 10 p.m. CT tipoff (8 p.m. Las Vegas time) and will be televised on ESPNU. The game will be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Eagle 98.1 FM the BR flagship) with the Voice of the Tigers Chris Blair and former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady on the call.
UNLV and BYU will be the first game at 5:30 p.m. PT (ESPN3) as UNLV plays in events like this here this time of year as the normal home arena of the Runnin’ Rebels is hosting the 10-day national finals rodeo event. T-Mobile Arena is the normal home of the Golden Knights of the National Hockey League.
The Tigers are 7-3 on the season while the Gaels come in at 7-4 on the season. LSU worked out on Friday morning (Pacific Time) at T-Mobile looking to rebound from the 72-66 loss at Houston’s Fertitta Center on Wednesday. In that game, LSU was unable to hold a 15-point lead going without a field goal for some 10 minutes and getting out rebounded 48-35.
Saint Mary’s comes in on a four-game win streak and have averaged 85.8 points during that span. The Gaels shot 58 percent from the field and 45 percent from 3-point range during their streak. In those games, the Gaels defeated California, 84-71; Bethune-Cookman, 93-61; New Mexico (in Los Angeles), 85-60; and, Cal State Fullerton in their most recent game on Monday, 81-66.
The team is coached by Randy Bennett, who is one win shy of 400 career victories, and Saint Mary’s has gone to post season each of the last 11 seasons (5 NCAAs, 6 NITs).
Jordan Ford leads the team averaging 22.5 points a game and 3.2 assists a contest. He is second in the West Coast Conference in scoring and is shooting 51.5 percent overall and 44 percent from three point range. Malik Fitts is averaging 15.1 points and 7.9 rebounds after transferring from South Florida.
In November, the Gaels lost to Mississippi State, 61-57, in a game played as part of the MGM Results Main Event in Las Vegas.
“(Saint Mary’s) run a European style offense,” said LSU Coach Will Wade after the practice Friday. “We’ll have to guard a lot ball screen action, a lot of different cutting actions which will be different than kind of the power games of some of the teams we have played.”
LSU is led by its three guards – Tremont Waters, Skylar Mays and Ja’vonte Smart – with Mays the team’s leading scorer at 13.2 points a game to go with 2.5 assists and 1.7 steals. Smart, who led LSU with a season high 18 points on Wednesday at Houston, is averaging 12.1 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists. Waters is at 11.3 points and 5.2 assists.
Naz Reid is also in double figures scoring at 12.2 points per game after back-to-back double figure scoring games of 16 versus UIW (12/9/18) and 13 at Houston (12/12).
The Tigers practiced for two hours on Friday at the Arena after traveling to Las Vegas on Thursday from Houston.
Of the practice, Coach Wade said: “We have to get better on our ball screen defense. We have to be able to guard better. Obviously, rebounding is a continued point of emphasis and ball movement and playing inside out. So we’ve kind of doubled down on the things we’ve been talking about all year.”
This will be the first time LSU has played in Las Vegas since splitting a pair of games in the Las Vegas Holiday Classic in Dec. 2005. That two-day event was played in a local high school.
The Tigers will return home for two games before the start of SEC play, facing what is expected to be an undefeated and nationally-ranked Furman team on the road on Friday, Dec. 21 and ULM on Friday, Dec. 28.