The LSU men’s basketball team’s biggest game of the regular season is in Jeopardy after extreme weather shutdown classes on Tuesday.
Potential snowfall forced administration to cancel Tuesday classes, but the basketball program is moving forward as planned with the Tigers’ game against No. 11 Kentucky Tuesday night — at least for now.
“I just heard [LSU coach Johnny Jones] say that, because of weather, what, we may cancel the game?” said Kentucky coach John Calipari in his Monday morning press conference.
Kentucky sports information director John Hayden confirmed to The Daily Reveille on Monday afternoon that Kentucky’s chartered flight landed safely in Baton Rouge, but Calipari said in his afternoon press conference the issue is leaving Baton Rouge, not getting to it.
Jones had a much more laxed — yet optimistic— attitude about the potential postponement, saying LSU is preparing for the game with the assumption that it will go as planned.
“Should it happen that no one will be here and it’s not a packed house, it’ll still be Kentucky and the game is going to count on your win-loss record and we’re going to approach the game the same way,” Jones said.
Jones also said that he doesn’t fear any travel issues for his team if roads begin to close tomorrow night and the game is played as planned.
SEC Associate Commissioner Herb Vincent said communication on the status of the game will come from the University.
“The SEC just plays a role in facilitating discussions until it gets to the point where there’s discussion to postpone the game or not,” Vincent said.
If the game does go on as planned, the Tigers will be facing possibly their toughest opponent of the year in Kentucky.
LSU has made a resurgence in conference play recently — winning two out of its last three games — behind a fierce step up in the performance of junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III, but have yet to prove this isn’t just another high point in a tumultuous season.
“I think at this point, Kentucky has more to lose than we do,” O’Bryant said. “Anybody can be beaten. We’re ready to throw the ball up and play.”
Jones said Kentucky has been on the top of the SEC for a long time and this is the type of game that can help put a team looking to move into the upper echelon of the conference into that next level.
But Kentucky isn’t looking to just reach the top of the SEC, rather the Wildcats are in the hunt for national dominance.
“Can you sustain mental discipline for 40 minutes?” Calipari asked. “Can we have a team that does that? It would be scary to see what that would look like.”