LSU’s men’s basketball team could be without one of its biggest bodies Wednesday against Tennessee.The Tigers travel to Knoxville, Tenn., later today but could be without a key contributor in senior forward Quintin Thornton.”We’re a little banged up right now,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said. “Quintin Thornton is having a problem with his Achilles, so it’s going to be day-to-day in terms of if he’ll even make the trip.”Johnson also said in Monday’s Southeastern Conference coaches teleconference that senior guard Garrett Temple missed practice Monday because of an ankle problem.”Garrett Temple is having a little problem with his ankle so we held him out today,” Johnson said. “But it’s the normal knicks and bruises that occur at this time of year.”Losing Temple could be devastating to LSU’s chances against the Vols. He averages seven points and 4.2 assists per game, leads the team in steals and is usually assigned the task of guarding opponents’ primary perimeter scorers.Thornton is not as big a points producer as Temple, but he is averaging more minutes per game than any of the Tigers’ other six substitutes. He serves as the primary backup to senior center Chris Johnson, and LSU would lose a big inside presence if he does not make the trip.GOTTFRIED GONE AT ‘BAMAThe Tigers’ troubles aren’t much compared to Alabama’s (12-7, 2-3). Many predicted the Crimson Tide to win the SEC West in the preseason, but Alabama coach Mark Gottfried resigned Monday after a mediocre start to conference play. Alabama beat LSU, 65-59, but has since lost three of its past four games.Gottfried gave no sign of trouble at the coaches’ teleconference Monday morning. He answered reporters’ questions regarding Alabama’s upcoming game against Arkansas for seven minutes and did not mention his decision.Alabama assistant coach Philip Pearson has been named interim head coach.BIG BLUE TAKES BIG OFFENSE TO OXFORDThe SEC’s hottest team visits Oxford, Miss., and one of the worst defenses in the league at 6 p.m. tonight. Kentucky (16-4, 5-0) is the conference’s only unbeaten team after two weeks and is outscoring opponents by an average of 14 points per game. Ole Miss (10-9, 1-4) is on the opposite end of that spectrum.The Rebels lost three consecutive conference games. The slide    began Jan. 17 against LSU (15-4, 3-1), with the Tigers winning 83-51.ESPN will televise the game.TENNESSEE SET FOR TOUGH WEEKTennessee (12-6, 3-1) won’t catch any breaks this week. The Volunteers are fresh off a 54-52 loss to No. 18 Memphis and host LSU and Florida (17-3, 4-1) in a four-day span. Tennessee was a preseason favorite to win the conference but has gone 3-4 since Jan. 1. But all of those losses were non-conference and three of them were to ranked teams. The one unranked team to defeat them, Kansas, is the defending national champion. Florida fell victim to a last-second miracle at South Carolina on Jan. 21. The Gators gave up a full-court pass and a game-winning layup with one second remaining against the Gamecocks. The loss ended a 10-game winning streak, but the Gators rebounded Sunday night with a 94-69 thrashing of Vanderbilt.—-