LSU Tigers (7-4, 0-0 Southeastern Conference) vs. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (8-3, 0-0 Atlantic Coast Conference)
When/Where: 6:00 p.m. at Pete Maravich Assembly Center | Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Television: ESPNU
History: LSU leads series 1-0 against Wake Forest: In the 1981-82 season the Tigers defeated the Demon Deacons 70-64 in the Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.
Radio: 100.7 FM (Baton Rouge), ‘Geaux Zone’ on LSUsports.net.
Things to watch for: The Tigers and Demon Deacons wrap up the non-conference portion of their regular season schedules’ on Tuesday night. LSU, 7-4, is riding momentum from three-straight wins against Gardner-Webb (78-57), Oral Roberts (100-77) and American (79-51) — all the while remaining undefeated, 7-0, on its home court.
Battle of the boards: LSU coach Johnny Jones said how LSU competes after a long break against Wake Forest’s size, and ability to rebound, will decide the winner.
“They’re a very good, strong rebounding basketball team because of the size that they have in terms of their starters,” Jones said. “They come off of the bench with great length, as well. They’re a good, physical, tough basketball team.”
“It will be a great test for the battle of the boards in the game. It’s one that we need to measure up and make sure that we’ve improved since our earlier games.”
Losing the war on the boards was a common theme to begin the 2015-16 season, but after the return of senior guard Keith Hornsby and sophomore forward Craig Victor, the Tigers have yet to finish as runner-up in rebounds in a game, Jones said.
Layoff: LSU, which hasn’t played since Dec. 22, struggled in games after extended break periods in its schedule due to holidays and break periods. The Tigers most punishing losses against Charleston and Houston on Nov. 30 and Dec. 13, respectively, came after six- and 12-day breaks in action. LSU is now waning off of a seven-day hiatus after its 28-point victory against American.
“Most of the time you come back off of Christmas break and you’re looking for that game to get your feet back under,” Jones said. “Then, you get into conference play or your tougher schedule. We won’t have the ability to have that type of transition. We are playing a conference-like opponent in this game.”
“We certainly have to get off to a much better start against any opponent of that quality or especially the quality of Wake Forest. You want to make sure that you get off to a great start because that’s the way they will play.”
Jones expects LSU to get the best-looking Wake Forest team all season, after the Demon Deacons nearly knocked off No. 6 Xavier in their last game on Dec. 22, but lost by eight points.
“If you look at them on tape, they may be as good as anyone we’ve played so far this year,” Jones said.
LSU’s last game: 71-59 win against American, Dec. 22.
Wake Forest’s last game: 78-70 loss against No. 6 Xavier, Dec. 22.
LSU’s possible starters (based on last game):
G Tim Quarterman (Jr.): 12.5 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 3.7 apg
G Antonio Blakeney (Fr.): 10.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg
G Keith Hornsby (Sr.): 17.3 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 2.2 apg
F Ben Simmons (Fr.): 19.1 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 5.8 apg
F Craig Victor (So.): 12.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.0 steals per game
LSU’s top reserves:
G Josh Gray (Sr.)
G Brandon Sampson (Fr.)
F Aaron Epps (So.)
C Elbert Robinson (So.)
Wake Forest’s possible starters (based on last game):
F Devin Thomas (Sr.): 16.6 ppg, 10.5 rpg, 27 career double-doubles (leads ACC).
G Mitchell Wilbekin (So.): 9.5 ppg, 2.2 rpg, leads team with 22 3-pointers this season.
F Greg McClinton (R-So.): 6.2 ppg, 3.7 rpg
G Bryant Crawford (Fr.): 13.4 ppg, 3.0 rpg
F Dinos Mitoglou (So.): 12.1 ppg, 6.4 rpg
Wake Forest’s top reserves:
F Cornelius Hudson (So.): 9.7 ppg, 3.2 rpg
F John Collins (Fr.): 9.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg
G Codi Miller-McIntyre (Sr.)
G Trent VanHorn (Jr.)
C Doral Moore (Fr.)
G Rondale Watson (So.)