BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team is back in action on Saturday as they take on SMU in the Compete 4 Cause Classic at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.
The game is set for tipoff just after 3 p.m. on ESPNU with Kevin Fitzgerald and Daymeon Fishback. The Voice of the Tigers Chris Blair and former LSU head coach John Brady will have the radio call on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network including Guaranty Media flagship in Baton Rouge, Eagle 98.1 FM.
This is the first of two neutral site games with the Mustangs that this year will be played in the home of the NBA G-League Texas Legends which seats about 6,000. Next season, the game is scheduled for New Orleans and the Smoothie King Center.
Each team as part of the contest will also be involved in the community as the Tigers will pay a visit to the Frisco Boys and Girls Club after arriving in the Dallas area Friday afternoon.
Both teams have had good starts to their season with LSU 8-1 on the year and winners of four straight, while SMU is 8-2 and also winners of four straight. In their last game, the Mustangs won their inaugural ACC contest, 63-51, over Virginia.
Andy Enfield, with previous stops at Florida Gulf Coast and USC, is in his first year as the head coach at SMU.
“I am really excited for our team for the opportunity we have this weekend, going over to Frisco to play against SMU, a top 50 type team,” said LSU Coach Matt McMahon. “They are really well coached. The have four guards playing at a high, high level, all double figure scorers. They have the 7-2 center (Samet Yigitoglu) from Turkey in the middle who has been fantastic since he came over. I think they are a really explosive offensive team. They shoot it well from three. They are among the elite in the country in pace of play and offensive rebounding. Defensively, I thought they were fantastic in their win over Virginia.”
SMU is led by Boopie Miller at 14.9 points and 5.6 assists a game, with Chuck Harris at 12.2 points and Yigitoglu and Kario Oquendo each average 11.6 points. The Mustangs as a team averaged 85.8 points a game.
LSU had success in its first game without the injured Jalen Reed against Florida Gulf Coast on Sunday, as Corey Chest and Daimion Collins combined for 30 points with Collins getting 18 points and Chest his first college double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. It was the third straight game he has pulled down double figure rebounds.
Chest has recorded double figure rebounds in three consecutive games, the first time an LSU player has done that since 2022.
It is expected that Chest (6.5 ppg, 8.1 rpg) and Collins (6.7 ppg, 4.1 rpg) will be joined in the lineup by guards Jordan Sears (15.2 ppg, 2.6 apg), Cam Carter (17.3 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and Dji Bailey (9.7 ppg, 3.1 apg).
LSU returns home after the SMU game for two games next week – Tuesday (Dec. 17) versus Stetson at 8 p.m. and Dec. 22 against UNO (2 p.m.). Fans are reminded that they can bring a toy for the Toys For Tots campaign for either game and received a ticket for the game for just $5.