No. 13 seed Auburn Tigers vs. No. 4 seed LSU Tigers
When/Where: LSU and Auburn will tip off approximately 25 minutes following the conclusion of the noon showdown between No. 1 seed Kentucky and No. 8 seed Florida. The Southeastern Conference Tournament is being hosted in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee.
Television: SEC Network
Radio: WDGL-FM 98.1 (Baton Rouge)
Last meeting: LSU avenged a home loss to Auburn on Feb. 5 with a 84-61 rout March 13 in Auburn Arena. It was one of four victories for LSU in the last five games.
LSU’s last game: After trading blows with No. 21 Arkansas for more than 39 minutes March 7, LSU junior guard Keith Hornsby drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to lift the Tigers to a 81-78 victory. For LSU — which sits at No. 47 in the RPI rankings — it was the 12th top-100 win of the season.
Auburn’s last game: Auburn overcame a 10-point halftime deficit and thumped No. 5 seed Texas A&M, 66-59, on Thursday. Before facing the Aggies, Auburn defeated No. 12 seed Mississippi State, 74-68, in the opening round Wednesday.
Auburn (14-19)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Graduate student [G] Antoine Mason (6’1’’): 14.3 ppg, 28.8 mpg, 2.4 rpg, 39.0% 3-point FG (41-105).
Senior [G] KT Harrell (6’4’’): 18.4 ppg, 33.0 mpg, 2.9 rpg, 44.1% 3-point FG (94-213).
Junior [F] Jordon Granger (6’8’’): 4.8 ppg, 23.1 mpg, 3.4 rpg, 46.0% FG (57-124).
Junior [F] Cinmeon Bowers (6’7’’): 12.3 ppg, 30.3 mpg, 9.6 rpg, 41.9% FG (151-360).
Senior [G] Malcolm Canada (6’3’’): 5.2 ppg, 21.7 mpg, 34.7% FG (50-144).
Senior [G] K.C. Ross-Miller (6’0’’): 7.2 ppg, 24.6 mpg, 36.9% FG (69-187).
Sophomore [F] Alex Thompson(6’9’’): 2.9 ppg, 11.5 mpg, 29.7% FG (19-64).
LSU (22-9)
Possible Starters and Top Reserves:
Sophomore [G] Tim Quarterman (6’6’’): 11.4 ppg, 33.3 mpg, 5.2 rpg, 3.9 apg, 42.4% FG (118-278).
Freshman [G] Jalyn Patterson (6’0’’): 6.5 ppg, 23.7 mpg, 1.2 spg, 37.5% 3-point FG (39-104).
Junior [G] Keith Hornsby (6’4’’): 13.2 ppg, 35.3 mpg, 4.2 rpg, 39.0% 3-point FG (67-172).
Sophomore [F] Jarell Martin (6’10’’): 16.9 ppg, 34.7 mpg, 9.0 rpg, 51.5% FG (191-371).
Sophomore [F] Jordan Mickey (6’8’’): 16.0 ppg, 35.4 mpg, 9.9 rpg, 3.6 bpg, 51.7% FG (187-362).
Junior [G] Josh Gray (6’1’’): 7.4 ppg, 25.3 mpg, 4.0 apg, 40.5% FG (83-205).
Sophomore [C] Darcy Malone (7’0’’): 1.0 ppg, 9.1 mpg, 1.4 rpg, 38.1% FG (8-21).
Sophomore [F] Brian Bridgewater (6’5’’): 2.2 ppg, 6.4 mpg, 1.0, 54.0% FG (27-50).
Three Things to Watch for
Which Tiger club shows up
Today’s match between LSU and Auburn will be the third matchup of the season between the SEC two Tiger squads, and each of the previous two played out differently.
Auburn stunned LSU in the PMAC, 81-77, on Feb. 5, which prompted Jones to make changes to his starting five. Nineteen days later, LSU crushed Auburn in the rematch, 84-61, in Auburn Arena in what sophomore forward Jarell Martin called a “revenge game.”
Both games were won with different strategies. Auburn upset LSU by going 9-for-20 from 3-point range. In the rematch on the road, LSU battered Auburn in the paint, outscoring the home Tigers 52-18 inside.
But both teams enter today’s game with momentum. LSU has gone 6-3 since Jones changed the starting lineup while Auburn has won its first two tournament games after enduring a six-game losing skid to conclude the regular season.
Bench production
LSU will be a tough out if it can get more production from its bench, which quietly came up big for the Tigers during their road win at Arkansas.
With sophomore forward Jordan Mickey nursing a hurt shoulder, LSU’s reserves made up the void by matching the Razorbacks’ bench in scoring 17-17.
While sophomores Darcy Malone and Brian Bridgewater provided solid minutes down low, junior guard Josh Gray played perhaps his best game in weeks, scoring 10 points and dishing out six assists against one turnover. He also assisted on junior guard Keith Hornsby’s game-winning trey.
Like LSU, Auburn had an up-and-down bench during the regular season, and it carried into the SEC Tournament. Auburn’s reserves outscored Mississippi State’s, 24-11, on Wednesday before being outdone by Texas A&M’s, 24-13.
Hornsby’s streak continues
Hitting double figures has become pretty standard for Hornsby.
After scoring 13 points against Arkansas on Saturday, Hornsby finished the regular season with 14 consecutive SEC games reaching double figures. The only other top-15 scorers in the league to accomplish that feat are Auburn’s KT Harrell and Arkansas’ Bobby Portis.
Much of Hornsby’s production has come from beyond the arc. The Virginia native has shot 41.5 percent (37-of-89) from 3-point range in his last 14 games, and he has made at least three treys seven times during that span.
Hornsby’s scoring punch and sharpshooting from deep could balance out the production of Harrell, Auburn’s own marksman who leads the SEC in 3-point shooting at 43.3 percent (88-of-203). Harrell has gone 6-of-10 from deep in Auburn’s two SEC Tournament wins.