A season-low five points on 2-for-10 shooting and 13 rebounds in 39 minutes of action. That is what LSU junior forward Glen Davis’ stat sheet read following the Tigers’ 70-67 loss Feb. 6 at the University of Tennessee. The loss was the Tigers’ sixth in a row and dropped their conference record to 2-7. LSU and Davis get a chance at redemption when they face the Vols tonight in the first round of the SEC Tournament at 8:45 p.m. Since the loss at Rocky Top the Tigers have struggled to a 3-4 record, including a home win Feb. 24 against the University of Florida, and Davis has been in and out of the lineup with an injured quadriceps muscle. LSU coach John Brady said Davis’ performance against the Vols was disappointing, and he expects much more in the conference tournament. “Glen had his worst game of the year [at Tennessee],” Brady said. “He’s got something to prove, I hope, against those guys. If he can have his normal game and a couple other guys can have some consistent game from the outside … we’ll have an opportunity to win the game.” Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said his team was lucky to limit Davis’ production in the Vols’ first meeting with the Tigers. “We as a team were very fortunate to be able to hold Glen Davis to five points,” Pearl said. “It’ll be our anticipation that this time that would be almost impossible to expect.” Davis suffered the quadriceps injury Feb. 10 against the University of Arkansas. He played in the Tigers’ next two games but missed the following three before returning to the court in LSU’s 61-52 win Saturday against the University of South Carolina. Davis came off the bench against the Gamecocks, playing 25 minutes and scoring 11 points. Sophomore forward Magnum Rolle replaced Davis in the starting lineup while he nursed his injured quadriceps, but Brady said he is leaning toward starting Davis against the Vols. “I don’t see any reason why we shouldn’t go over there and put Glen on the floor first,” Brady said. “I’m inclined right now to put him out there and put our best team on the floor to start the game.” Davis said that even with the extra rehab he has undergone throughout the past two weeks, he is still not quite 100 percent healthy. “I’m getting there slowly but surely,” he said. “I’ll be there ready to play. It takes time [to heal], man.” Unfortunately, time is something the Tigers do not have a lot of at the moment. LSU is faced with the daunting task of winning four games in four days to advance to its third-straight NCAA Tournament. The winner of the LSU and Tennessee contest will take on Ole Miss on Friday. To get a shot at the Rebels, the Tigers will have to get passed freshly crowned Associated Press SEC Player of the Year, Tennessee junior guard Chris Lofton. LSU held Lofton to eight points on 1-for-5 shooting when the two squads met in early February, but Lofton finished the regular season as the conference’s leading scorer, averaging 20.6 points per game.
Brady said if the Tigers come out in a zone defense against the Vols, Lofton will still be guarded man-to-man, most likely by LSU sophomore guard Garrett Temple.
Temple has made a career of shutting down some of the nation’s top offensive scorers. He held Texas A&M University guard Acie Law IV to four points on 1-for-11 shooting in LSU’s 64-52 win against the Aggies on Dec. 5. Temple also held 2006 National Player of the Year and Duke University guard J.J. Redick to 11 points on 3-18 in the Tigers’ Sweet 16 win against the Blue Devils in March 2006. Brady said guarding Lofton man-to-man and playing zone defense on the rest of the Vols is a strong possibility for tonight’s game. “We’ll try to throw some different looks, but our base defense is to guard [Lofton] straight up … and make somebody else beat us if we can do that,” he said. “The thing with Tennessee is they’re going to press you all the time and trap. You’re going to have some turnovers. What you don’t want to happen is for your turnovers to lead directly to their scores.” The Tigers committed 20 turnovers in the first meeting against the Vols, 15 of which were forced by Tennessee steals. In conference games only, LSU finished No. 10 in turnovers per game, averaging 14.4. The Tigers also finished the 16-game conference schedule with more turnovers, 230, than assists, 208. Despite the frustrating season, Davis said the Tigers have all the tools necessary to win four consecutive conference games. “Every team has its streak, and this is the streak that we need desperately,” he said. “Hopefully we can get it.”
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