LSU Tigers at Texas A&M Aggies
When/Where: 8 p.m. Tuesday at Reed Arena | College Station, Texas
Television: SEC Network
Radio: WDGL-FM 98.1 (Baton Rouge)
Last Meeting: Texas A&M handed LSU its first home loss of the season with a 67-64 victory Jan. 17. The Aggies overcame a 13-point, second-half deficit to beat the Tigers for the second time in three meetings.
LSU’s last game: The Tigers throttled Tennessee from tip-off Saturday, building a 27-point halftime cushion before coasting to a 73-55 victory. It was LSU’s second win in the last three games, with the lone loss being a two-point defeat to No. 1 Kentucky.
Texas A&M’s last game: The Aggies built a 15-point lead in the first half against Florida on Saturday but had to hold on for a 63-62 win at home. The victory moved Texas A&M into a tie with Ole Miss for third place in the Southeastern Conference.
Texas A&M (17-7, 8-4 SEC)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves
Junior [G] Danuel House (6’7’’): 14.1 ppg, 32.0 mpg, 3.7 rpg, 40.5% 3-point FG (45-111).
Junior [G] Alex Caruso (6’5’’): 9.6 ppg, 30.6 mpg, 5.8 apg, 4.7 rpg, 48% FG (82-171).
Senior [G] Jordan Green (6’5’’): 5.4 ppg, 23.6 mpg, 1.6 rpg, 52.7% FG (48-91).
Junior [F] Jalen Jones (6’7’’): 13.7 ppg, 27.5 mpg, 6.0 rpg, 47.8% FG (109-228).
Senior [F] Kourtney Robinson (6’9’’): 8.4 ppg, 22.5 mpg, 5.6 rpg, 62.7% FG (84-134).
Freshman [G] Alex Robinson (5’11’’): 4.0 ppg, 19.0 mpg, 2.5 apg, 36.1% FG (39-108).
Junior [F] Antwan Space (6’8’’): 4.2 ppg, 13.4 mpg, 2.8 rpg, 45.8% FG (27-59).
LSU (18-7, 7-5 SEC)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Sophomore [G] Tim Quarterman (6’6’’): 11.9 ppg, 32.9 mpg, 5.3 rpg, 3.4 apg, 43.6% FG (99-227).
Freshman [G] Jalyn Patterson (6’0’’): 5.6 ppg, 21.4 mpg, 1.1 spg, 35.8 % 3-point FG (24-67).
Junior [G] Keith Hornsby (6’4’’): 12.8 ppg, 35.4 mpg, 4.4 rpg, 37.6% 3-point FG (50-133).
Sophomore [F] Jarell Martin (6’10’’): 15.9 ppg, 34.6 mpg, 8.9 rpg, 49.3% FG (145-294).
Sophomore [F] Jordan Mickey (6’8’’): 17.1 ppg, 35.4 mpg, 10.8 rpg, 3.8 bpg, 53.1% FG (164-309).
Junior [G] Josh Gray (6’1’’): 8.3 ppg, 27.4 mpg, 4.1 apg, 40.4% FG (72-178).
Sophomore [F] Darcy Malone (7’0’’): 1.1 ppg, 9.6 mpg, 1.5 rpg, 43.8% FG (7-16).
Three Things to Watch for
Block Party
LSU sophomore forward Jordan Mickey doesn’t mind when opponents get into the lane — it gives him a chance to send the ball into the stands.
Mickey tied his career-high of seven blocks against Tennessee on Saturday. It was the third time this season and fourth in his career that Mickey rejected seven shots.
Mickey is eight blocks away from back-to-back seasons with at least 100. Only LSU legend Shaquille O’Neal has accomplished that feat in program history. Mickey is also two blocks away from reaching 200 in his career.
Mickey ranks second in the nation in blocks while leading the SEC with 3.8 swats per game. Mickey’s 92 blocks are 63 percent from than the 58 from Kentucky forward Karl-Anthony Towns, who’s second in the SEC with 2.3 blocks per game.
Mickey rejected seven shots in the Tigers’ loss to Texas A&M earlier in the season, but that didn’t stop the Aggie from scoring 40 points in the paint against LSU.
Avoiding the same situation
The Tigers are playing much differently than the team that blew a 13-point lead in the second half to the Aggies Jan. 17, and now they’ll look to prove it in College Station, Texas.
In the second half of its loss to Texas A&M, LSU turned the nine times and missed 12 of its 13 attempts from 3-point range. The Aggies took advantage of the Tigers’ miscues, scoring 12 points off turnovers.
Texas A&M also played efficiently in its win in Baton Rouge, scoring on 50 percent of its possessions in the second half. The Tigers, on the other hand, scored on 31.4 percent (16-of-35) of theirs.
But LSU has focused on getting the ball down low to Mickey and fellow sophomore forward Jarell Martin, and the plan has paid off in spades.
The Tigers have scored 94 points in the paint in the last three games. The extra emphasis inside has led to easier looks from outside. LSU has shot 41 percent (16-of-39) from 3-point range in its last three.
Backcourt battle
After shutting down one of the SEC’s top scorers, LSU sophomore guard Tim Quarterman will face another.
Quarterman will likely be tasked with guarding Texas A&M junior Danuel House, a 6-foot-7 guard who lead the Aggies in scoring at 14.1 points per game.
Quarterman throttled Tennessee senior guard Josh Richardson, holding the SEC’s fifth-leading scorer to 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the field. Richardson also missed all three of his attempts from beyond the arc.
Now Quarterman will face the league’s 11th-leading scorer in House, who scored 18 points in the first meeting in the PMAC. House is averaging 16 points per game in his last three, and the Aggies have gone 2-1 in that span.