The LSU men’s basketball team will take the court tonight at 7 p.m. against Nicholls State minus one of it’s most important players. Junior forward Tasmin Mitchell, who started all 32 games for the Tigers this past season, will require surgery to repair a stress fracture in his left ankle. The injury is expected to sideline the junior for six to eight weeks, but Mitchell could sit out the rest of the season and apply for a medical redshirt. LSU coach John Brady said he is looking into that possibility. “[Mitchell] can probably get a medical redshirt,” he said. “That’s probably what we are leaning toward.” Brady said replacing Mitchell’s scoring and rebounding will be tough. “Fifteen points per game and eight or nine rebounds [are things] we’ll have to pick up from somewhere else,” Brady said. Junior guard Garrett Temple said the loss of Mitchell is tough, but it also provides an opportunity for other players to step up. “We have talented guys,” Temple said. “We’ve showed we can still compete even though Mitchell was such an integral part of our team.” The Tigers (3-2) are playing for the first time in a week, having lost an 87-84 overtime decision to Arizona State on Nov. 21 in the fifth-place game of the EA Sports Maui Invitational. LSU opened the Maui tournament with a 83-77 loss to Oklahoma State but rebounded the next day against Chaminade, winning 78-72. Junior forward Chris Johnson had a productive tournament in Hawaii, scoring a career-high 19 points against Oklahoma State and grabbing a team-high 11 rebounds against Chaminade. Through five games this season, the junior is averaging 11 points and five rebounds. In tonight’s contest, LSU’s starting five will likely resemble the lineup used in the final two games of the Maui tournament. As a perimeter-oriented team, with 38.9 percent of its shot attempts being 3-pointers, LSU will rely heavily on his guards with junior Marcus Thornton, junior Terry Martin and Temple manning the backcourt. The twin towers of Anthony Randolph and Johnson will patrol the paint for the Tigers. Randolph is second on the team in scoring with a 15.6 average and first in rebounding, grabbing 8.2 boards per game. The Tigers will also add depth to their roster with the return of swingman Dameon Mason, who has missed the past two weeks with a viral infection surrounding his heart. Team doctors cleared the senior Monday to resume play. Nicholls State (1-5) is coming off a three-game road stretch in California, losing to Cal, UC Davis, and St. Mary’s by an average of 11 points per game. The Colonels came closest to victory against UC Davis, but they ultimately fell 69-67 to the Aggies. Despite the Colonels’ less than desirable record, Brady said the Tigers can’t afford to take this team lightly. “The way we are and the situation we’re in, we’re going to have to play,” he said. “There’s no games for us that should be taken for granted.” Temple noted deficiencies in his team’s defensive effort after surrendering at least 72 points in all three of its games in Maui. “We’ve got a lot to learn,” he said. “Offensively we’re going to be there. We can score 80 to 85 points a game. Defensively, we have to learn to stop somebody.” LSU is averaging 77.8 points per game on offense. Defensively, the Tigers have given up an average of 75.6 points per game through five games. This past season the Tigers allowed an average of 56 points through five games. Nicholls state has never beaten LSU, losing 13 games since the series began in 1986.
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