For the third straight game, the LSU men’s basketball team will face an opponent that enters the contest with a hill to climb in the Southeastern Conference standings.
The University of Alabama had lost three of four games before defeating the Tigers on Wednesday, 73-70.
Then on Saturday LSU lost 85-78 to a Mississippi State University team that had lost three games in a row.
Tonight the Tigers (13-9, 2-6) travel to Knoxville, Tenn., to face the University of Tennessee team that has dropped six of its past eight games. The matchup will be televised nationally on ESPN at 8 p.m.
The Volunteers (15-8, 3-5) will receive an emotional boost tonight because of the return of their star player, Chris Lofton. The junior guard has missed the past four games with a sprained ankle and is expected to play against the Tigers.
When Lofton went down Jan. 20 against the University of South Carolina, he was the Southeastern Conference’s leading scorer. Two weeks later, the Maysville, Ky., native still holds stake to that claim.
Lofton has averaged 21.5 points per game in 19 games this season. Before the South Carolina game, Lofton scored 20 or more points in 11 of his team’s previous 12 games.
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said during the SEC coaches teleconference that he has not been able to gauge what kind of impact Lofton will have against the Tigers.
“I don’t know how much he’ll play or how effective he’s going to be,” Pearl said. “The first few times out are going to be a challenge for him physically, especially defensively.” In the last matchup between the two teams, an 88-74 LSU victory in January 2006, the Tigers held Lofton to only two points on 1-of-7 shooting from the field.
Pearl said that because of the injury, players and fans should not expect Lofton to be as dominant or aggressive as he was early in the season.
“It will be good to have him back though because he’s become our big finisher,” Pearl said. “But that ability will be challenged. I think it will be a lift to have him back, but he’s not going to be the player he was in December.”
LSU sophomore guard Garrett Temple said Lofton’s injury entices the Tigers to defend him even more aggressively.
“We’re not going to let up,” Temple said. “We’re going to go at him harder because of the injury because his timing may not be there.”
Junior guard JaJuan Smith has picked up the slack in Lofton’s absence. Smith is averaging 15.7 points per game this season but has increased that number to 21.3 in the four games Lofton has missed.
The Vols’ scoring offense, which ranks No. 2 in the conference behind the University of Florida, has been a stark contrast to the Tigers’ offense this season.
LSU is second-to-last in SEC scoring offense, averaging 69.3 points per game.
After failing to score more than 70 points in eight straight games, the Tigers have posted 70 and 78 point performances in their past two outings. The defense, which was the staple of the team early in conference play, allowed Alabama and Mississippi State to shoot 51.9 percent and 53.4 percent from the field, respectively.
LSU coach John Brady said despite the recent lapses on defense, his team refuses to hang its collective head.
“Our spirit is fine,” Brady said. “We just don’t have the consistency that is necessary right now to win against teams in this league, especially on the road. We’re not able to capitalize when things are going our way. Our team recognizes this, and we’re doing all we can to work on that.”
Temple said the defensive problems have been mostly due to poor execution.
“We just have to get back [in transition defense],” Temple said. “It’s nothing about communication. It’s nothing the coaches have done. It’s about us busting our hump and getting back on defense.”
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