LSU (4-2) vs. Houston (5-0)
- When: 8 p.m. on Nov. 29
- Where: Pete Maravich Assembly Center
- Listen: LSU Sports Radio Network, 98.1 FM Baton
- Watch: SECNetwork (Dave Neal, play-by-play; Antoine Walker, analyst)
Last time out
LSU … The Tigers dropped their second game of the season against VCU, 74-85, on the final day of the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Paradise Island, Bahamas. LSU totaled a 1-2 record in the tournament overseas with a win against Old Dominion (66-60) and a tournament-opening loss to Wichita State (47-82).
Houston … The Cougars whipped Cornell, 83-53, earning Houston’s second-straight season with a 5-0 start under coach Kelvin Sampson.
Probable starting lineups:
LSU
- G Jalyn Patterson: 4.3 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 3.3 apg
- G Antonio Blakeney: 14.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg
- G Brandon Sampson: 11.0 ppg, 2.7 rpg
- F Duop Reath: 15.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.7 bpg
- F Aaron Epps: 8.3 ppg, 5.2 rpg
— Of note: On Monday, LSU coach Johnny Jones suggested junior forward Craig Victor’s productivity may have a chance to grow Tuesday against Houston. Victor started 24 games for LSU last season and missed the Tigers’ first three games because of a “violation of team rules.”
Victor has yet to start for LSU this season, but played in all three of LSU’s games in the Bahamas.
Jones, at length, spoke about Victor going forward, beginning Tuesday against the Cougars:
- “We’re really excited to have Craig back in uniform with the team. He’ll have the chance to be more productive for us (Tuesday). He’s a guy we look forward to getting a lot of minutes for us. He’ll be a difference maker for us. He’s good at defending the paint area and he’s more of a post presence on the offensive end of the floor. He’ll help us cut down on our turnovers because he’s a guy who understands what to do with making plays, passes and the sense of urgency that you have to play with on that end of the floor. Defensively we think he’ll bring value to our team. We didn’t think he’d get off to a great start having that type of layoff and not playing in games. To put him in that environment that we did against the caliber of competition that we played against, he didn’t have a warm up game. He was thrown straight into the fire and It was a little tough but we think those three games helped him. We look forward to him being very productive for us moving forward.”
Houston
- G Galen Robinson: 4.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 6.6 apg
- G Rob Gray: 18.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 3.6 apg
- G Damyean Dotson: 13.6 apg, 5.0 rpg, 1.0 spg
- F Devin Davis: 12.6 ppg, 9.0 rpg
- F Danrad Knowles: 12.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg
Last season
Houston scored 105 points in its seven-point win against the Tigers in overtime last season, which LSU hasn’t seemed to forget.
Last December in the 105-98 loss at Houston, LSU was short-staffed without Patterson and Victor in the lineup.
Here’s what Jones said Monday about last season’s loss:
- “They’re talented, but unfortunately we went in and It was [former LSU guard Keith] Hornsby’s first game back and he played exceptionally well. He had thirty-plus points including overtime. Craig Victor did not dress and play with us that day and unfortunately Jalyn Patterson didn’t dress either; he had hurt his knee prior to the game. We were down some of our weapons and went into a tough battle and unfortunately came up a little bit short. We couldn’t get it done in regulation and Ben Simmons fouled out of that game as well. A lot of things were against us being on the road but our guys continued to fight pretty hard and we’ll have that type of challenge (Tuesday).”
You can follow Christian Boutwell, @CBoutwell_
