LSU is out of options. If the Tigers (13-17, 6-10) want a taste of the NCAA tournament, they have to win the Southeastern Conference tournament first. And that’s something the team says it is capable of doing. “If you want to call it magic or a miracle, we just think we can win every game,” said junior guard Garrett Temple. After a season of ups and downs, the Tigers locked up the No. 4 seed in the SEC Western Division, bettering their odds to win the conference tournament after sitting in last place for the majority of the season. The first two teams in each division receive first-round byes, and no team has won the tournament without a first-round bye since Arkansas in 2000. That year, the Razorbacks were the first team to defeat four-straight opponents to win the tournament in 15 years. But the Tigers’ late season turnaround gives them confidence they can repeat Arkansas’ run. “We’ve won four in a row before this,” Temple said. “It’s going to be a little bit closer time span, but we think we’re capable of beating any team we play against.” First up for LSU is South Carolina (13-17, 5-11) in the tournament opener at noon today in Atlanta. The Tigers clawed out a 62-55 win against the Gamecocks on Feb. 27 in the teams’ only meeting this season. While the Tigers’ late season, four-game win streak has some people overlooking South Carolina, LSU interim coach Butch Pierre is not willing to make that leap. “I don’t know about running over South Carolina,” Pierre said. “I just got through watching the tape, and we were very fortunate to win that game.” The Gamecocks’ key weapon is sophomore guard Devan Downey, whose 18.3 points per game ranks No. 3 in the SEC. In the Tigers’ first meeting with the Gamecocks, Temple held Downey to six points. Temple’s 9-inch height advantage against Downey exemplifies the biggest obstacle South Carolina coach Dave Odom said the Tigers pose to his team. “The factor that really got us at the end – and it always affects just about all the teams – is their length,” Odom said. “They have great length at every position.” None of the Gamecocks’ top seven contributors are taller than 6-feet, 7-inches. If the Tigers get passed the Gamecocks, they will earn a Friday date with the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Tennessee. But the Tigers said they are not overlooking the task at hand. “It’s not hard to focus,” said freshman forward Anthony Randolph. “Each game we’re going to focus on our opponent and not worry about anyone else.” The Volunteers are in the driver’s seat for the tournament, despite having to overcome their own history to advance. Tennessee has not advanced to the SEC semifinals since 1991. “Remember this [Tennessee] team is different,” Odom said. “Somebody’s got to stop them because they’re not going to stop themselves … Ourselves or LSU will have the first shot at them in the tournament, and it’ll be up to us to stop them.”
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