Throughout the past four seasons, the LSU men’s basketball team has seen people come and go through the program, but very few things have remained constant.
Among those things: The PMAC is still the Mecca of Tiger basketball, John Brady is still at the helm of the team and since 2003, fans have been able to expect senior forward Darnell Lazare decked in purple and gold when the Tigers take the court.
Lazare’s tenure at LSU is slowly winding down, and the Baton Rouge native will play in his final home game Saturday when the Tigers (15-14, 4-11) host the University of South Carolina (14-14, 4-11) at 7 p.m.
Lazare has been part of the Tigers’ recent overstock of talented big men. He came to LSU along with Capital High School product Brandon Bass, who bolted for the NBA after winning the Southeastern Conference Freshman and Player of the Year awards in his two seasons as a Tiger.
The following season, 2004-2005, former Tiger and current Chicago Bulls forward Tyrus Thomas joined the squad along with reigning SEC Player of the Year Glen Davis.
Despite not collecting the accolades and honors Davis and Thomas have, Lazare has contributed to two SEC West titles and the team’s first Final Four appearance this past season since 1986.
“House,” a.k.a. Lazare, has averaged 4.6 points and 2.9 rebounds in his 117 games as a Tiger.
Lazare has also enjoyed the luxury of staying relatively injury-free during his time at LSU. He missed two games earlier this season because of an ankle injury but has played in at least 25 games in each of his four seasons.
Lazare’s home finale comes against a Gamecocks team that has lost seven of its past nine games.
South Carolina comes to Baton Rouge reeling from a hard-fought, 99-90 overtime loss Wednesday to No. 19 Vanderbilt University.
The Gamecocks shot 52.7 percent from the field against the Commodores, but Vanderbilt was on fire from behind the arc, knocking down 16 of its 30 3-point attempts.
South Carolina coach Dave Odom said the Commodores were fully deserving of the win.
“In a game like that you only get one or two chances to win it,” Odom said. “We had that chance.”
The Tigers and the Gamecocks enter the game with a combined eight conference wins. The two teams totaled 20 SEC victories in the 2005-2006 season.
Odom said no one would have predicted the Tigers and Gamecocks would be playing their final regular season game in the position both teams are in currently.
“I don’t think anybody would have envisioned both of us would be at the bottom of our respective divisions, yet that’s where we are,” he said. “When you look at that, you wonder, ‘Well, what are you playing for?’ I think both of us have our own individual reasons for playing well in this last game.”
Odom said he thinks the Tigers have played some of their best basketball of the season in the past couple of weeks without Davis, who averaged 18.1 points per game before injuring his quadriceps muscle Feb. 10 against the University of Arkansas.
“[The Tigers] could have become dispirited when they lost Glen Davis, and they’ve continued to play hard,” Odom said. “They’ve played some of their best basketball against [the universities of] Kentucky and Florida. I think you’ll find two teams that are going to play very hard on Saturday night.”
Odom said the Gamecocks’ focus for Saturday’s game is trying to attain their fourth-straight winning season and send their seniors, especially guard Tre Kelley, off on a good note.
Kelley is No. 2 in the SEC in scoring, averaging 19.1 points per game, and was a catalyst in the Gamecocks’ back-to-back National Invitational Tournament championships in 2005 and 2006.
—–Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]