LSU basketball’s stiffest competition awaits at Atlantis Paradise Island in Nassau, Bahamas.
After achieving a third straight 3-0 start under coach Johnny Jones, LSU is expected to face multiple AP top 25 teams at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. The Tigers will begin with Wichita State [4-0] at 11 a.m. Wednesday. The game will be televised on ESPN2.
LSU is also awaiting the return of a starter from last season who missed LSU’s first three games: Craig Victor.
“I can tell you that he will be playing with us,” Jones said. “His first game will be with us in the Bahamas versus Wichita State.”
Victor, the fourth-leading scorer for LSU in the 2015-16 season, missed the first three games of LSU’s season because of a “violation of team rules.” However, Victor made his presence felt at halftime against North Florida on Friday.
Duop Reath and Antonio Blakeney said Victor provided a “fiery” halftime speech.
“He’s done a good job in the locker room at halftime making sure they address some things,” Jones said.
Victor averaged 11.5 points and 5.6 rebounds in his sophomore year at LSU. He’s expected to replace junior Aaron Epps in the starting lineup, who has averaged 13.3 points and seven rebounds in Victor’s place.
Beside Victor in the frontcourt will be LSU’s 6-foot-10 rim protector Duop Reath, who’s averaging 16.7 points and 6.7 rebounds this season.
Victor and Reath will begin the tournament with the task of containing Wichita State’s Darral Willis Jr. in the post. Willis Jr. is averaging 11 points and five rebounds this season for Wichita State.
Blakeney is entering the tournament fresh off back-to-back, 20-point scoring performances for LSU. The sophomore guard is averaging 18.7 points this season for LSU and shooting 44 percent from the field.
After opening the tournament against Wichita State, LSU will then move on to face either Old Dominion or No. 10 Louisville on Thursday.
If the Tigers win, LSU will play the early afternoon game at 1:30 p.m. against either Old Dominion or Louisville. If LSU loses, it will have one of the night tipoffs at 8:30 p.m. in the consolation semifinals.
Other teams playing in the tournament include No. 24 Michigan State, St. John’s, No. 20 Baylor and VCU.
“We found a great place to play and found some tough competition at the same time,” Jones said at LSU’s season opening media day. “It will be a great challenge for us, and we’re hopeful, we’re excited that we’ll have a lot of fans following and traveling with us, as well.”
The tournament will run through Nov. 25. The championship game will be played at 2:30 p.m. the day after Thanksgiving.