The LSU men’s basketball team will be looking to get over its Southeastern Conference road hump when it takes on Mississippi State tonight in the arena famously known as “The Hump.”
The Tigers (12-7, 2-3 SEC) have lost three straight games away from the PMAC to open conference play  — all by nine points or more.
The task gets no easier tonight, as the No. 18 Bulldogs (16-4, 3-2 SEC) sport the league’s most formidable frontline, with four players who are taller than 6-foot-8 and average at least eight points.
Mississippi State junior transfer forward Arnett Moultrie has helped embattled junior forward Renardo Sidney blossom this season, and the duo destroys teams on the glass, with State averaging 38 rebounds per game.
“What [Moultrie] has done for Renardo, from what I have seen, is they can play so long without Sidney having to be on the floor and be so effective,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “He is taking the pressure off Renardo. I’m not so sure there is a better player in terms of being efficient and productivity than Moultrie.”
Moultrie averages a double-double with 16.4 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, while Sidney adds 11 points and five rebounds per outing.
Tiger freshman forward Johnny O’Bryant III will be available to help in the paint, as he practiced Tuesday, and Johnson confirmed that O’Bryant will return to action against the Bulldogs after missing five games with a fractured left hand.
But senior point guard Dee Bost is the engine that fuels the MSU offense, averaging 74 points a game.
Bost has been a Bulldog
constant for three years, but has become a dynamic distributor during his senior campaign, handing out five assists and scoring 16.4 points while playing 35 minutes per game.
“I have a lot of respect, and I admire the ways Dee Bost has competed and won games for them,” Johnson said. “He’s so crafty, and I think their whole game starts with his presence.”
LSU’s promising freshman point guard, Anthony Hickey, will be tasked with stopping Bost.
Hickey has had ball-handling issues in recent road losses at No. 14 Florida, Arkansas and Alabama — an area of concern for LSU as it will deal with a raucous Humphrey Coliseum.
“I need to keep it under control on the road,” Hickey acknowledged. “We’ve been letting the opponents speed us up, make bad passes, and that starts with me.”
LSU has lost double-digit first-half turnovers in all three road conference losses.
But turnovers haven’t been the only thing to plague LSU’s guards recently. The Tigers are also getting little help from their perimeter scorers.
Sophomore guards Ralston Turner and Andre Stringer have had many shots turn into long rebounds, as Turner is shooting just 27 percent from the field and Stringer has connected on only 7-of-25 three-pointers in SEC play.
“If the shot is open and in rhythm, you just need to continue to shoot it,” Johnson said. “I think Ralston and Andre are playing the right way, getting good looks. It might be a confidence thing for them, but we have options.”
One of those options is junior center Justin Hamilton, who has emerged as a premier post threat.
The 7-foot Hamilton is averaging 19 points and eight rebounds in six January games — including three double-doubles — and notched a career-high 27 points against the Gators on Saturday.
But Hamilton’s main task, along with LSU senior forward Storm Warren, won’t be offensive-minded — a result of the Bulldogs’ potent inside game.
“State’s got so many big bodies they run at you,” Warren said. “Me and Justin will probably try to front them and keep the ball out of their hands. But the focus starts with defending, and it’s always a fight in Starkville.”
While LSU has won just eight SEC road games in the previous three seasons, two of them have come inside the intimidating environment “The Hump” is known for.
If the Tigers hope to even their league record, they’ll need to make it three of four tonight.
 
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