For sophomore forward Craig Victor II, tomorrow night is the Tigers’ chance to prove their worth against the Southeastern Conference’s best, No. 10 Texas A&M.
LSU (11-6, 4-1 SEC) travels to face the SEC’s only undefeated in-conference team–the Aggies (15-2, 5-0 SEC) at 8 p.m. on Tuesday in Reed Arena in College Station, Texas.
However, the current is going against the Tigers. LSU is 1-58 all-time when unranked and traveling to a top-10 opponent’s home court.
“I look at it like it is our turn, for everybody tuning in, to show the world that we can compete for first place,” Victor said. “It’s our chance to take first place.”
As they began 1-5 in road matchups this season, the Tigers’ struggles outside of the PMAC seem to be evident. But, LSU is determined to change that perception against the nation’s 10th-best team.
Most importantly, the Tigers see tonight as an opportunity to prove themselves on the road — for the group is 1-1 when traveling in-conference this season with their only win coming against Vanderbilt on Jan. 2 and a crunch-time 68-62 loss against Florida on Jan. 9.
After struggling against Florida and its raucous crowd, LSU said it understands it will need road wins against conference opponents to remain in tournament contention, but it has to go through the “Reed Rowdies” to gain a second road win.
“Those A&M fans,” senior guard Keith Hornsby said. “They’re brutal, man.”
Last season, Hornsby remembers a group Reed Rowdies behind one goal yelling specifically at former Tigers Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey.
“I got my fair share of stuff, too,” he said.
Beyond the boisterous Aggie crowd, the Tigers will have to contain the Texas A&M offense, as well, which Hornsby said will be a challenge LSU accepts against the SEC’s elite.
“I’ll definitely say they’re going to be the toughest team we’ve faced yet,” Hornsby said.
Texas A&M, with four senior starters, is one of the most veteran teams in all of collegiate basketball, which LSU coach Johnny Jones said is a rarity.
Jalyn Jones and Danuel House, the Aggies starting 6-foot-7 senior guards, combined for a third of the Texas A&M’s shot attempts this season, shooting 159-for-371.
Although locking down the pair is the Tigers’ No. 1 priority, Jones said the rest of the Aggies’ squad can deliver, too.
“They’re really tough to defend,” Jones said. “They can score from their post guy inside. Jalyn Jones is able to go in there. House is able to stretch you defensive. [Alex] Caruso is a great passer, he can break you down off the bounce.
[Anthony] Collins as well, he’s a really quick, fast point guard who sets the table for those guys.”
The Aggies’ balanced offense comes with the territory of its fifth-year coach, Billy Kennedy.
Kennedy, the former 1999-2005 head coach at Southeastern Louisiana University, has maintained a disciplined philosophy since his early coaching days: a tough and constantly rotative defensive scheme along with organized offensive attack.
“Texas A&M is playing not only as well as anyone in our conference, but as well as the top teams in the country,” Jones said. “They’re sitting there with an eight-game win streak. They have as balanced of an offensive team and as experienced as anyone.
It’ll be a great challenge for us.”
Texas A&M defeated LSU’s most recent opponent, Arkansas, 92-69 on Jan. 2, and its only two losses came against Syracuse and Arizona State on Nov. 27 and Dec. 5, respectively.