LSU has an opportunity to tie up some lose ends this weekend. The Tigers take their show on the road Saturday when they face Mississippi State. The matchup will close out the regular season in a game that means a little something extra. Mississippi State will host a very different LSU team than the one it routed 61-39 on Jan. 9 in the Southeastern Conference opener. The Bulldogs held LSU – which began SEC play on a three-game slide – to 21 percent shooting from the field. These Tigers go to Starkville, Miss., hoping to extend a season-high, four-game winning streak. “We’re playing against a much-improved LSU team,” said Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury. “[LSU interim coach Butch Pierre has] got some healthier kids. [Junior center] Chris Johnson’s gotten a lot healthier during this run.” Johnson missed the teams’ first matchup because of a broken right hand. With the exception of a disappointing game Feb. 20 against Arkansas, the Tigers have won five of their past seven games with the two losses coming by a combined six points. Pierre said the winning streak is some of the most fun he has had during his 22-year coaching career. “Going to the Final Four obviously was fun,” Pierre said. “But having the atmosphere of Tiger Stadium in the [Pete Maravich] Assembly Center – having that crowd behind you – every time I hear that, I get geared up … It’s a fun time for me, especially because I’m a Louisiana guy, and I love what I’m doing, and I’m doing it at home for LSU.” The Darrow native will get to coach his ninth game as head coach against another school he is quite familiar with. “It’s a special feeling for me since I played there four seasons and got my master’s there,” Pierre said. “I have a lot of memories there as a student-athlete.” Pierre started his coaching career at Mississippi State as a graduate assistant for two seasons after four years playing point guard for the Bulldogs. Pierre led Mississippi State in assists in 1981 and 1982. Jamont Gordon, preseason All-SEC junior guard/forward, leads the Bulldogs in assists this season and has been talked about as a potential SEC Player of the Year candidate. Another big reason for the Bulldogs’ success is sophomore forward/center Jarvis Varnado’s emergence as the nation’s premier shot blocker. “We’re going to try to make it difficult for them,” Johnson said. “We just have to play smart with Varnado and maybe try to get him in a little bit of foul trouble.” But shooters beware: Varnado, who leads the nation with 4.7 blocks per game, will not be the only elite shot blocker in Humphrey Coliseum on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers’ forward-center combo of freshman Anthony Randolph and Johnson rank second and third in the conference in shot-blocking, respectively, behind Varnado. If Randolph, Johnson and the Tigers can block the Bulldogs’ attempt at their 21st win, LSU will have a chance to clinch third place in the SEC West, depending on the outcome of Saturday’s Ole Miss’s game against Georgia. Ole Miss clinched the tie breaker over LSU with its victory Tuesday against Arkansas, meaning the Tigers need a win and a Rebels’ loss to take third place.
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