After four consecutive home games to start the season, the LSU men’s basketball team will make its first road trip of the season this weekend. The No. 10 Tigers (3-1) will face Tulane (4-2) on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the New Orleans Arena. The Tigers last outing was a 91-57 win against McNeese State University on Wednesday night because of solid perimeter shooting. For the game, LSU was 10-for-20 from the 3-point line, thanks to a combined 45 points from sophomores Tasmin Mitchell, Ben Voogd and Garrett Temple. “We’re going to have to score from the perimeter,” Temple said. “Glen Davis is a preseason All-American and he will be double- and triple-teamed all game, so we have to have confidence in our perimeter game.” So far this season, the Tigers have been searching for a perimeter scorer to compliment junior forward Davis and senior forward Darnell Lazare, who average just below 35 points per game combined. Mitchell is the player who has been asked to fill that role. He has averaged 14 points per game, while shooting over 50 percent from the 3-point line in the Tigers’ four games this season. “I feel great,” Mitchell said. “It’s something that I know how to do, and if that’s what coach wants, that’s what I’ll do.” Turnovers are also an area that has plagued the Tigers this season. LSU has averaged just under 16 turnovers per game and committed 16 turnovers against the Cowboys. Despite the turnovers, LSU coach John Brady said he was pleased with the way his team played against McNeese State. “We had a few careless turnovers, but that happens sometimes,” he said. “Last year against McNeese we turned the ball over 27 times.” The Green Wave come into the contest following an 80-54 win against Huston-Tillotson University on Tuesday night in New Orleans. Junior forward David Gomez led Tulane in scoring with 17 points and added 10 rebounds. Tulane has won four of its first six games, something Green Wave coach David Dickerson said is an improvement from this past season. “We didn’t get our first win until Jan. 2 last year,” he said. “So we’re obviously pleased with the way we’ve started.” Senior guard Chris Moore has been Tulane’s leading scorer this season, averaging over 11 points per game while shooting 47 percent from behind the 3-point line. Against the Tigers this past season, Moore only scored four points thanks to an LSU defense that held Tulane to only 58 points for the game. The Tigers were 7-4 on the road this past season, and Temple said winning on the road is important to the team’s success. “In the SEC, you have to win a few road games,” he said. “I think this Tulane trip will be good for us to get us on a roll.” Despite the team’s 3-1 start, Brady said his team still has many things to work on before Southeastern Conference play begins. “I believe we are still a work in progress…,” he said. “We just need to continue to try and improve in every phase.”
—–Casey Gisclair at [email protected]