PITTSBURGH — Last season, the LSU men’s basketball team could only wonder how it might have performed in the NCAA Tournament.
This season, the Tigers have the opportunity to see what they can do against the nation’s best, starting tonight.
The moment they’ve waited for since they were kids has finally arrived. After a five-year absence, LSU is back in the NCAA Tournament as a No. 9 seed and will tip off against No. 8 seed North Carolina State at 8:20 p.m. tonight at Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh.
“Growing up, this was one of my dreams: coming to college and playing in the Big Dance,” said LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin. “To finally accomplish that goal is real exciting. I can’t wait to get in and get started.”
LSU (22-10) enters the tournament after its best regular season since 2008-09, when the Tigers won the Southeastern Conference regular season title and advanced to the Round of 32.
The Wolfpack (20-13) finished seventh in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings this season but had résumé-boosting victories against No. 4 Duke, No. 15 North Carolina and No. 17 Louisville.
But how teams performed in the regular season doesn’t mean much during March Madness, when anything and everything is possible on any given night.
“At this time of year, they are going to play as hard as anybody,” said LSU junior guard Keith Hornsby. “It’s going to be a physical game no matter who you play or what the style of play the teams play against. You are fighting for your life, and they are too.”
Tonight’s contest will be a fight between clubs with similar personnel but differing styles.
Both the Tigers and the Wolfpack play without a traditional center in the paint, opting to go with three guards and two forwards in their starting lineups. The two teams can also score in bunches, with each finishing in the top four of their conferences in points per game.
But LSU plays at the seventh-fastest pace in the nation, averaging 73.1 possessions per game, while NC State prefers to work the ball around to its 3-point sharpshooters, junior guard Trevor Lacey and senior guard Ralston Turner.
Lacey and Turner, the Wolfpack’s two leading scorers, hit a combined 160 treys, the most for a duo in the ACC this season. Turner finished tied for second in the conference with 88 made 3-pointers and went 4-for-6 in NC State’s most recent game against Duke on March 12.
Preventing Lacey and Turner from getting hot will be the Tigers’ main point of emphasis on defense, said sophomore guard Tim Quarterman.
“They have very good guards, so our guards have to stay down on defense,” Quarterman said. “We have to slow them down and make sure they’re not having a good night.”
Tonight’s matchup will be the first meeting between the two programs, but there is plenty of familiarity between the Tigers and Wolfpack.
Turner played at LSU for two seasons before transferring to NC State following the 2011-12 season. As a freshman, Turner led the Tigers in scoring (12.3 PPG) and was second on the team with 48 made 3-pointers.
LSU coach Johnny Jones served as an assistant at Alabama under current NC State coach Mark Gottfried for one season in 2000-01, and the two have maintained their relationship through the years.
“We’ve been friends for a long, long time in the profession,” Jones said. “It certainly will be an interesting game for the both of us.”
But when the Tigers play, things are bound to be interesting, especially given their inconsistent season.
The Tigers went 12-5 against teams ranked in the RPI’s top 100 and captured impressive road wins at West Virginia and Arkansas, two No. 5 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
The Tigers finished 6-1 against teams that made the Big Dance, with the only defeat a narrow two-point loss to No. 1 overall seed Kentucky on Feb. 10. It was the undefeated Wildcats’ slimmest margin of victory this season.
But LSU has suffered several alarming losses during its roller coaster season, most recently a 73-70 overtime setback to Auburn (No. 126) in the SEC Tournament on March 13. It was LSU’s fifth loss to a team ranked higher than No. 100 in the RPI, which doesn’t include a 15-point home loss to No. 99 Tennessee.
The Tigers will strive for consistency as well as victory against the Wolfpack.
“It’s a must that we come out here and be consistent,” said Martin, who’s averaged 22 points and 11 rebounds in the last six games. “If we lose one game, our season is over. I’m not ready for my season to be over with just yet.”
No player wants his season to end at this time of the year, but only one team can march through the chaos and end on top. With the eyes of the college basketball world watching, this is the moment the Tigers gave dreamed of their entire lives.
“It’s the biggest stage in college basketball,” Quarterman said. “You can’t ask for a better opportunity.”
You can reach David Gray on Twitter @dgray_TDR.