LSU Tigers (9-6, 2-1 Southeastern Conference) vs. Ole Miss Rebels (12-3, 2-1 SEC)
When/Where: 8:00 p.m. at Pete Maravich Assembly Center | Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Television: ESPN2.
Brad Nessler, play-by-play; Sean Farnham, analyst; Jeff Goodman, reporter.
Last time out: LSU lost 68-62 against Florida on Jan. 9. The Tigers never captured the lead at the O’Connell Center in Gainesville as they shot 35.7 percent from the field and 3-of-20 from behind the 3-point line.
Radio: LSU Sports Radio Network, 98.1 FM., LSUsports.net
Jim Hawthorne, play-by-play. Ricky Blanton, analyst. Kevin Ford, host.
Things to watch for: Both teams face earning its second SEC loss on Thursday. LSU and Ole Miss are looking to improve to 3-1 in conference play. Earlier this week, LSU players, along with coach Johnny Jones, said defending Ole Miss senior guard Stefan Moody and junior forward Sebastian Saiz were their No. 1 goal for Thursday’s game.
 
LIVE UPDATES:
FINAL: 90-81. LSU moves to 10-6, 3-1 SEC.
1:24, second half. LSU 85, Ole Miss 81.
– LSU, somehow, figured something out. Without stopping Moody — who now has 33 points — the Tigers took control of the lead and haven’t lost it since. LSU, though, owes this one to Antonio Blakeney. The freshman hit two crunch-time 3-pointers to satisfy a somewhat comfortable lead. 
8:22, second half. LSU 63, Ole Miss 64.
 - LSU, when it needed it the most, found life and energy with eight minutes remaining. The Tigers have played a lethargic second half up to this point, but behind Simmons they may have something brewing when their playoff hopes could very well be on the line.
13:27 remaining in the second half. LSU 49, Ole Miss 55. 
  – LSU came out of the mid-way break somewhat sluggish. With a lapse in effort, Stefan Moody makes a new season-high for himself for 3-pointers with five thus far. He has 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting, 5-of-9 from three.
LIVE UPDATES: 15:31 remaining in the first half. LSU 9, Ole Miss 7.
– Due to a quick starting lineup change, senior guard Josh Gray got the nod to start at point guard instead of Tim Quarterman. Gray’s job so far? Contain Stefan Moody. Moody hit a corner three to counter a nice-looking step-back triple from Keith Hornsby. Ole Miss at the free-throw line for two shots.
11:33 remaining in the first half. LSU 14, Ole Miss 19.
 - Nearly nine minutes in, and it’s about to turn into a 3-point contest in the PMAC. Stefan Moody, while being heavily guarded, has nine points on 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Ole Miss is 4-for-7 from 3-point land and LSU is 2-for-4.
7:51 remaining in the first half. LSU 24, Ole Miss 26.
  – Ben Simmons is now sitting for LSU with two fouls, in accordance with one of Johnny Jones’ coaching rules. On the other end of the floor, Stefan Moody is keeping afloat. Moody has 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from behind the arc. Ole Miss, without Moody shooting, is 4-of-16 as a team. 
3:55 remaining in the first half. LSU 35, Ole Miss 32.
 - LSU scrambles together a 9-0 run with a little less than four minutes remaining in the first half. Moody hasn’t scored in the last seven minutes. LSU now has three in foul trouble: Quarterman, Simmons and Victor all with two fouls.
HALFTIME: LSU 40, OLE MISS 43.
  – Stefan Moody leads all scorers with 16 points. Keith Hornsby trails the SEC’s top-scorer with 10 of his own. LSU contained Moody for a seven-minute stretch in the first half, but baskets from the supporting cast kept the Rebels above the hump going into the break. 
 
Containing Moody: Moody, while not fully in a slump, is shooting 41 percent from the field, leading the SEC with 23.9 points per game — 3.3 points ahead of LSU freshman point-forward Ben Simmons.
LSU, though, faces the SEC’s best scorer during a dive in production.
Against Kentucky, Alabama and Georgia, Moody shot a combined 15-for-35 from the field and 6-for-18 from three-point territory — his lowest amount of shot attempts in a three-game skid this season.
Containing Moody from the field may be one thing, but limiting his presence at the free-throw line is most important to the Tigers.
“He gets to the line a lot,” senior guard Keith Hornsby said. “He’s really good — and I don’t know if it’s necessarily acting — but he’s good at making it seem like you’re fouling more than you actually are. We have to be aware of that. We did a good job on him last year. Hopefully we bring the same strategy to that.”
Moody’s aggressive style of attack has earning himself foul shots at the stripe 133 times this season, as the SEC’s highest attempter.
“Moody is a very explosive guard,” Jones said. “This year, they are playing him more at [point guard] and starting him off. He has the ball in his hand a lot more. He’s creative, tough off of the balance. He’ll get into the rim and shoot the deep ball, in terms of the three. He’s really dangerous.”
LSU’s last game: 68-62 loss against Florida on Jan. 9.
Ole Miss’s last game: 72-71 win against Georgia, Jan. 9.
LSU’s possible starters (based on last game):
G Jalyn Patterson (So.)
G Josh Gray (Sr.)
G Keith Hornsby (Sr.): 15.5 ppg, 2.3 rpg
F Ben Simmons (Fr.): 20.6 ppg, 13.1 rpg, 5.1 apg
F Craig Victor (So.): 12.6 ppg, 6.6 rpg
LSU’s top reserves:
G Tim Quarterman (Jr.): 11.5 point per game, 5.0 rebounds per game, 3.7 assist per game
G Antonio Blakeney (Fr.): 9.3 ppg, 3.3 rpg
G Josh Gray (Sr.)
G Brandon Sampson (Fr.)
F Aaron Epps (So.)
C Elbert Robinson (So.)
Ole Miss’s possible starters (projected):
G Stefan Moody (Sr.): 23.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 4.1 apg
G Martavious Newby (Sr.): 5.5 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 1.9 apg
F Sebastian Saiz (Jr.): 12.5 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 1.2 blocks per game
G Rasheed Brooks (Jr.): 7.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 1.1 steals per game
F Tomasz Gieldo (Sr.): 8.5 ppg, 3.8 rpg.