LSU basketball coach John Brady often talks about the necessity of winning a few Southeastern Conference road games and protecting the Tigers’ home turf, the PMAC.
After grabbing one of those wins on the road Saturday at Alabama, LSU (14-4, 4-3 SEC) has a chance to put some distance in its conference record from the .500 level when it hosts Tennessee (11-6, 3-4 SEC) today at the PMAC at 7 p.m.
The Volunteers have struggled on the road, going 1-4 away from Knoxville on the year, including 0-3 in conference. So LSU should be in a desirable position, right? Brady is not so sure.
“That remains to be seen,” Brady said. “Ask me tomorrow (tonight) about 9:15. Then we’ll know whether we took advantage of the positive position we’re in or that we let it slip away and have to make something else happen positive for us. The schedule’s in our favor now. We’ve got three or four at home and we’ve just got to come out and play the best we can.”
The Volunteers’ road record may be deceiving. All of their losses in SEC play on the road came to ranked teams, and on Saturday they avenged their loss at Florida by beating the Gators at home. Also, they are currently in a nine-game stretch in which eight of their opponents are ranked in the AP Top 25. They lost to Louisville by three and Kentucky by one in overtime and both have been ranked in the Top 5 this season.
“They’ve had some quality losses, if there’s such a thing,” Brady said. “So our team shouldn’t misinterpret anything about them being 3-4 in the league. They’ve played the toughest teams in the league to this point.”
Tennessee is led by 6-foot-5 junior guard Scooter McFadgon, who is second in the SEC in scoring at 19.0 points per game and first in the league in conference scoring at 21.0 points per game. Forward Brandon Crump, a 6-foot-10 forward, also chips in with 15.2 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per contest.
“He’s pretty tough,” said LSU guard Darrel Mitchell of McFadgon. “He’s leading the league in scoring so that’s going to be one of our toughest challenges throughout the year. We have to come in and have the defensive intensity we have for every game.”
The Volunteers’ strength lies in free-throw shooting, where they lead the league in both attempts and percentage. They shoot 74.5 percent from the line and have 46 more makes from the line than the Tigers, compared to just three more attempts.
“Here’s what they do,” Brady said. “They average about 14.5 offensive rebounds a game and they make 21.3 free throws a game. That’s where they need it. They need offensive rebounds and they need to get to the line in order the get the points necessary for them to win. If we can take away some of their offensive rebounding, defend them well and not put them on the line, then they’ll have to find 12 or 14 points somewhere else.”
LSU certainly improved from the line against ‘Bama, making 24-of-26 free throws and hitting eight in a row down the stretch. But they are still last in the league in free-throw shooting, making 64.9 percent of them.
Guard Antonio Hudson said he cannot explain the change in last game’s performance from the line, but he hopes it keeps up.
“That’s just the game of basketball,” Hudson said. “It’s just how it happens sometimes. But I feel like we stepped up to the line with confidence. We didn’t focus on making the shot, we just focused on shooting it.”