LSU Tigers (8-5, 1-0 Southeastern Conference) vs. No. 9 Kentucky Wildcats (11-2, 1-0 SEC)
When/Where: 8:00 p.m. at Pete Maravich Assembly Center | Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Television: ESPN. Brad Nessler (Play-by-Play), Jay Bilas (Analyst) and Shannon Spake (Sideline).
History: Kentucky leads series 86-25 against LSU. Kentucky won the last meeting 71-69 last February in Baton Rouge. Johnny Jones is 1-4 against the Wildcats while John Calipari is 8-1 against the Tigers. The only game that fell LSU’s favor between the two coaches was the Ice Dome game in 2014.
Radio: LSU Sports Radio Network
Pregame:
– LSU will be in gold, Kentucky in blue.
– LSU junior forward Brian Bridgewater was dressed out and warming up prior to tipoff. Brian Bridgewater suffered a right knee injury and had procedure a little more than two weeks ago. Coach Johnny Jones said Bridgewater would miss “at least month” at the time of his procedure but was able to participate in shootaround. He is wearing a brace on his right knee.
LSU starting lineup:
G Tim Quarterman
G Antonio Blakeney
G Keith Hornsby
F Ben Simmons
F/C Craig Victor II
Kentucky starting lineup:
G Tyler Ulis
G Isaiah Briscoe
G Jamal Murray
F Marcus Lee
F Alex Poythress
FINAL: LSU 85, Kentucky 67.
- Amidst some lack of hope to finish the game in victory from its faithful, LSU defeated the Wildcats in the biggest win of its season thus far. To make it simple, Kentucky didn’t play well. It shot 41 percent from the field in a defensive battle between both teams. Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray finished with 23 and 21 points, respectively. On Monday the Tigers noted the Wildcats lack of front-court depth, setting their focus toward guarding the Kentucky guards.
Official timeout, 2:59 remaining in second half, LSU 73, Kentucky 63.
– Wasn’t much of an exciting three minutes of play, but Craig Victor tallied his 11th rebound to go along with 13 points. He currently stands as the only player on either side to have a double-double. Tim Quarterman, though, may join him very soon. Quarterman’s nearing in on his first triple-double of the season with 21 points, nine rebounds and seven assists.
Official timeout, 5:15 remaining in second half, LSU 70, Kentucky 59.
- LSU continues to dominate on both ends against Kentucky’s smaller lineup. The Tigers, time and time again, get the ball inside on offense and kick to an open shooter, which has been Antonio Blakeney of late. He’s missed his last few.
Official timeout, 7:29 remaining in second half, LSU 66, Kentucky 56.
- Tigers leading by 10 with 10 less than eight minutes remaining. Kentucky forward Alex Poythress joins Marcus Lee with five fouls and is out for the remainder of the game. Kentucky seems to be going with a small lineup now, four guards and one forward.
Official timeout. 11:54 remaining in second half, LSU 53, Kentucky 48.
- LSU is maintaining control, but Kentucky guard Jamal Murray has stolen some of the second half from the Tigers. Murray’s got 17 points with more than 10 minutes remaining. Marcus Lee gets a soft fifth foul, and will sit for the remainder of the game, reducing Kentucky’s already limited front-court rotation.
Official timeout. 15:42 remaining in second half, LSU 47, Kentucky 35.
- A Tim Quarterman steal led to a Tiger fastbreak and a Ben Simmons alley-oop on the other end. The Tigers are attacking the Wildcats at full force when heading toward the rim. Defense has been fluid on both ends, but both teams are scoring against tough defense as the second half continues.
HALFTIME: 37-27, LSU leading Kentucky.
- The Tigers, while excellent in spurts on defense, lead the Wildcats by 10 at halftime due to Kentucky’s lack of offense. The Wildcats shot 32 percent from the field in the first half, 9-for-28, and 3-for-11 from three.
- LSU was without Ben Simmons, two personal fouls, for much of the latter of the first half. Without Simmons, LSU continued to thrive in transition, while also winning the rebounding battle.
- Johnny Jones for much of the season called the Tigers ability to reduce their amount of turnovers and rebounding effort as keys to success for their season. At halftime, LSU has done just that, winning the battle on the boards, as Jones calls it, 22-to-19.
Official timeout, 11:58 remaining in the first half. LSU leads Kentucky, 13-8.
- LSU enforcing and controlled Kentucky on both ends of the court. Tigers relentless pressure on defense forced four offensive fouls on Kentucky. LSU stands ahead in the rebounding battle, 11-6. From the boards, the Tigers are pushing, quickly, in transition.
Official timeout, 7:52 remaining in the first half. LSU leads Kentucky, 18-10.
– LSU is maintaining to control Kentucky, defensively. Kentucky, with 10 points through 12 minutes, is shooting 21 percent from the field, 3-for-14 FG and 0-for-6 from 3-point land.
Official timeout, 3:21 remaining in the first half. LSU leads Kentucky, 27-22.
- LSU, while still playing decent defense, is summoning more, and more struggles offensively. Ben Simmons remains on the Tigers bench with two fouls. LSU coach Johnny Jones is shuffling a variety of players in due to troubled possessions and the offensive inefficiencies.
