Josh White
Kentucky Wildcats (30-1) vs LSU Tigers (18-13)
Friday, March 9, 2012, New Orleans Arena, New Orleans, Louisiana
1:00PM Tipoff, WKYT-27
The Cats are looking for their eighth national championship in school history, and seem poised to make a run all the way to the Final Four. But first it’s SEC Tournament time, and the Cats take the first overall seed into New Orleans as they get set to take on the Tigers of Louisiana State. LSU defeated Arkansas 70-54 in the first game of the tournament to set the match-up.
The Tigers have been on a roller coaster ride this season. They started the year with some terrible losses to Coastal Carolina and South Alabama (and what then looked like a bad loss to Northwestern, who has since come into bubble talks). They clawed their way back and improved all season before getting to a 17-10 record and getting some serious consideration for a tournament seed. They responded by dropping their last three games of the season, to Ole Miss, Tennessee and Auburn. Now sitting with an RPI rating of 89, the Tigers’ only real chance to play in the NCAA tournament is to win the SEC tournament outright.
The Tigers are led in scoring and rebounding by junior center Justin Hamilton, who averages 13.0 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. He went for 10 and 7 against Arkansas yesterday afternoon in their 70-54 win. Another player to watch is freshman guard Anthony Hickey, the reigning Mr. Kentucky basketball. While he struggled in the Tigers’ earlier meeting with the Cats, scoring only five points on 2-for-6 shooting, he’s been a bright spot in LSU’s revival. He’s averaged 9.2 points and 3.7 assists per game in his debut season, scoring a career high 20 points in a win over Georgia Tech back on November 20. Despite this, he hasn’t scored over 12 points in a game since a 76-71 loss over then #16 Mississippi State on January 25.
LSU isn’t a great shooting team, but it has players who are capable of scoring behind the arc when they get hot. Sophomore guard Andre Stringer’s 31.8% per game may seem a little pedestrian, but consider he’s 11-for-25 in his last five games, including 3-for-5 against Arkansas yesterday. Sophomore guard Ralston Turner shoots his threes at a 35.7% clip, including making over half his shots in eleven games this season. The aforementioned Hickey can get on a hot streak as well, shooting 33.1% for the season.
PREDICTION: LSU at the present is projected as a four seed in the NIT Tournament, meaning the only way they could conceivably make the Big Dance is to win the SEC tournament outright. They may have stumbled at times this year, but they’ve improved greatly under Trent Johnson’s watch. This isn’t the same team the Cats beat 74-50 earlier this year. You always have to be fearful of teams like this come tourney season. LSU is a classic Jeckyll and Hyde team, you always wonder which team will show up. If the team that lost to Coastal Carolina and South Alabama shows up, the game will be over before the first media time out. If the group that gutted out a win over Mississippi State on Valentine’s Day and beat then #10 Marquette on December 19 comes to play, then it could be a long day for the Cats. In the end, the Cats should gut out another win.
Kentucky 72, LSU 60
