Basketball fans in Baton Rouge will get a glance at the future of the Southeastern Conference this weekend. Coming off very different games, LSU and Kentucky face off Saturday in the PMAC in a contest featuring two of the conference’s most impressive freshmen forwards. After a frustrating season so far, the Tigers (9-14, 2-7) pulled out interim head coach Butch Pierre’s first win, 85-73, at Florida behind freshman forward Anthony Randolph’s 22 points. “LSU is a very, very good team,” said Florida coach Billy Donovan. “Maybe more so than any team in the country, their record is not reflective of their talent level.” A big part of LSU’s “talent level” – 6 feet 10 inches to be exact – is Randolph, the team’s second-leading scorer averaging 14.1 points per game. The Dallas native’s 8.4 rebounds per game also leads the team and are good enough for third in the SEC. “[Randolph is] going to be an NBA player,” Pierre said. “He knows that, and that’s one of the reasons he needs to work hard, be a little bit more consistent and be a team guy. I think he’s done that.” Meanwhile the Wildcats (12-10, 6-3) lost, 93-52, to Vanderbilt on Tuesday – the worst SEC loss in the team’s history – after mustering only 11 first-half points. Kentucky freshman forward Patrick Patterson scored 10 points – his third lowest output in a productive freshman campaign. The West Virginia native leads the Wildcats averaging 16.6 points per game. Like Randolph, Patterson has rebounded his way to the top five in the SEC, tied for fifth with 7.8 boards per game. “From a standpoint of productivity, the impact that [Randolph has] had at Kentucky has been tremendous,” said Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl. “Without him, they would not be nearly the team that they are.” Pierre compared Patterson to Dallas Mavericks forward and former-Tiger Brandon Bass, and contrasted Patterson and Randolph’s styles. “Patterson is a very physical player, whereas Anthony is a more athletic skill guy,” Pierre said. With all the freshmen’s offensive production, their two styles have led to a particularly large contribution on defense. Both forwards lead their teams in blocks. Randolph blocks 2.4 shots per game, while Patterson averages 1.3 rejections per contest – good for No. 2 and No. 11 in the SEC, respectively. The two diaper dandies are also both third on their teams in steals – Randolph with 1.2 steals per game and Patterson with 0.9 steals per game. Another key to LSU’s success will be junior guard Garrett Temple’s ability to defend two Kentucky seniors, forward Joe Crawford and guard Ramel Bradley. Temple wore a bandage on his upper lip in practice Thursday after he hit his face on the floor in a scramble for a loose ball Wednesday against Florida. Temple said at the time of the injury, he was more upset by the officials awarding Florida the ball than he was by his bleeding lip. He then joked about his “new look.” “I saw the game today, and I looked like a clown or something,” Temple said. He also talked about some students giving him a hard time Thursday. “A couple of them had some laughs about it in my class [Thursday] morning, saying I had a nice mustache,” Temple said.
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