LSU Basketball

1) The Arizona State Sun Devils have gotten back on track.  Herb Sendek is one of the best coaches that flies under the national radar, and N.C. State has to be kicking themselves for when he resigned under pressure.  However, the only "easy" game they have the rest of the way is at home against Stanford.

They're also not a deep squad, as only seven players average more than 15 minutes a game.  But they have a great inside-outside combo with James Harden and Jeff Pendergraph and are poised for their first Sweet 16 run since 1995.

2) Former Stanford coach Trent Johnson has put down the eyebrows raised when he took the LSU job.  Since the Bayou Bengals lost to Alabama, they have gone 7-1, with the lone black mark coming against Xavier.  At this rate Chris Johnson (no relation) and company are in the driver's seat to take the overall regular season title in the SEC and are poised for their first dance card invite since their Final Four run in 2006.

3) Siena and Xavier both lost this weekend, but unless they suddenly collapse, both teams should be OK even if they stumble in their conference tournaments.  Their current RPIs are a healthy 27 and 5, respectively.  If they do stumble, expect the committee to collectively grab some antacid, as there's going to be a few teams that get invited whose credentials will be debated long after the tournament is over.

4) One of those teams could be Georgetown.  The Hoyas have played the nation's toughest schedule (per collegerpi.com) but have lost six of their last seven.  They have to go to Syracuse, South Florida (stop laughing, ask Marquette), and have the aforementioned Golden Eagles at home.  They could easily be 4-10 in the conference after Feb. 21.

5) Another team that could upset the bracket's apple cart is Wisconsin-Green Bay.  No, the Bennetts haven't come back, but the Phoenix have a 59 RPI, an 11-2 conference record, and beat Butler.  Considering that it's very muddled in Bracketville when it comes time to consider 11 and 12 seeds, a case could be made for this team as an at-large selection.  They have five players who average double figures and are fairly deep.  If they do get in, whoever plays them in the first round better be ready.

1 - UConn

2 - UNC

3 - Oklahoma

4 - Pitt

5 - Louisville

6 - Memphis

7 - UCLA

8 - Duke

9 - Michigan State

10 - Marquette

11 - Xavier

12 - Villanova

13 - Wake Forest

14 - Kansas

15 - Butler

16 - Clemson

17 - Utah State

18 - Missouri

19 - Purdue

20 - Florida

21 - Syracuse

22 - Gonzaga

23 - Illinois

24 - Arizona St.

25 - LSU

Alabama and LSU have already squared off once this week, and the debate still rages as to who won the battle on National Signing Day. ESPN has LSU No. 1, but Rivals has Alabama No. 1.

Football can't get here fast enough, especially for Alabama, which has already fired its basketball coach this season.

LSU is enjoying a good season under first year coach Trent Johnson.

Alabama won the first meeting of the year 65-59 in Tuscaloosa.

Records

LSU 18-4, 6-1, 15-1 (home), RPI #52

Alabama 13-9, 3-5, 0-5 (away), RPI #134

Series

Alabama has won six of the last 10

LSU has won four of the last five in Baton Rouge

Players to Watch

LSU

G Marcus Thornton (19.9ppg)

F Tasmin Mitchell (15.6ppg)

G Bo Spencer (11.9ppg)

Alabama

F Alonze Gee (14.3ppg)

G Senario Hillman (13ppg)

F Jamychal Green (10.2ppg)

What LSU Must Do To Win

The Tigers played pretty good defense the first time around as Alabama shot just 38 percent from the floor.

LSU needs to bring that same level of defensive intensity again for the rematch. Trent Johnson has to find a way for his players to get to the free throw line more as LSU had just 10 attempts to Alabama's 35.

Tasmin Mitchell has to step for the Bayou Bengals as he had just 10 points and three rebounds in the loss in Tuscaloosa.

What Alabama Must Do To Win

In the first meeting of the year, the Tide forced 17 LSU turnovers and had just 10 themselves.

Also, Alabama got to the free throw line 35 times hitting 23 of those. LSU had just 10 free throw attempts in the loss.

Even though Ronald Steele was on the team at that time, he had just five points.

Alabama was paced by Hillman who had 24 points in the win. He and Gee must carry the load for the Tide against a talented LSU team.

Prediction

The win last time gave former Alabama coach Mark Gottfried a few more games, but his team has won just once since his dismissal and that was against Georgia.

LSU is playing much better now than they were a month ago and takes this one at home where they have played very well this season.

LSU wins by 10-17 points

Season: 12-13 SU through Feb. 6

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Arkansas (13-5) at LSU (16-4), Saturday, Jan. 31, 2009, 5 p.m. EST

The Line: LSU -11

First place in the SEC West meets last place in the SEC West as the Arkansas Razorbacks roll into Baton Rouge to take on the red hot LSU Tigers.

Arkansas finally got their first SEC win of the season last time out when they hosted Alabama. While LSU has won four out of five in conference play, and has the better overall record, Arkansas has played a tougher schedule. Upset wins over both Oklahoma and Texas have the Hogs 2-0 in games against the top 25, and 2-1 in games against the RPI top 50. LSU is 0-1 against ranked teams, and a dismal 1-3 against the RPI top 50.

While LSU had been rolling after their conference-opening loss to Alabama, they loss to Xavier by double digits last Saturday in a home game they were favored to win. Meanwhile, Arkansas appears to finally be getting their footing back, showing signs of the team that beat Oklahoma and Texas against Alabama, never trailing the entire game.

Arkansas enters this game at 6-5 against the spread, while LSU is 7-5 against the number. Before their last game, Arkansas appeared to be in a free fall, as they are just 1-5 against the spread in their last six SEC games. LSU has covered in their last four SEC games and is 4-1 against the spread in their last five overall.

Arkansas has played well against LSU, going 4-0-1 against the spread in their last five meetings.

I think that LSU's record may be a bit inflated, and the Hogs record is a bit deflated. This spread is just a little too large, as the difference in these two teams isn't that big.

Mitch's Pick: Arkansas +11

See all of Mitch's free College Basketball picks against the spread.

Coming off of a hard fought lose to Xavier, LSU looked to rebound against SEC foe Tennessee. Some thought LSU might not have been mentally prepared for this game after experiencing their first home lose of the season, those people should have thought again.

LSU came out firing, hitting 9 of their first 12 shots, it looked as though it would be a blow out for the Tigers. Then, Tennessee was able to make three straight threes from three different people. Tennessee was able to close the lead down to five going into halftime.

In the second half, LSU was able to rush out to a 61-47 lead with 12:44 remaining, then the Tigers got cold from the field. Tennessee was able to go on a 13-0 run to pull with in one point. Then, the refs weren't calling a thing and missed a few calls on Tennessee's next trip down the floor.

They missed a push in the back under the rim, a push in the back when Chris Johnson was trying to save the ball and Chris stepping out of bounds. That all happened in one possession. This got Tennessee head coach Bruce Pearl so upset that refs called a technical foul on him.

Now with LSU having a three point lead, you would believe LSU could gain momentum off of the technical and win the game easily, not exactly. After the free throws, it became a back and forth game until Wayne Chism hit a three pointer to give the Vols a 69-67 lead.

LSU was able to go down and score to make the game tied at 69-69. Then with the game tied at 71-71, LSU's Marcus Thornton was able to make a shot and get a foul and add a free throw to make the score 74-71 but the play of the game came with Tennessee down by one and with the ball.

They threw it down low so they could get an easy shot. As te shot went up, Chris Johnson blocked the shot and was able to hold on to it and get fouled. LSU would make five more free throws to get the games final score of 79-73.

Though Marcus Thornton was able to lead the Tigers in scoring with 29 points, he wasn't the man of the hour. LSU's big man, Chris Johnson, was able to score 14 points, get 14 rebounds and block four shots to help the Tigers win the game.

This was an important win for the Tigers and this game may help them down the road, including Saturday's game verse Arkansas. That game will LSU's 100th anniversary game and be televised on FSN. 

Wednesday 8PM

Why is this game intriguing?

LSU and Tennessee both figure to be potential NCAA Tournament teams comes March. Both teams are near the top of the SEC with 3-1 conference records.

Tennessee's record indicates they are struggling at just 12-6, but they have played the third toughest schedule in the nation thus far. LSU is an impressive 15-4, but with a schedule that ranks near the bottom of the SEC.

Why LSU will win?

1. The Tigers play very good defense allowing under 40 percent shooting from their opponents.
2. LSU turns the ball over under 13 times per game which is the second fewest in SEC games.
3. LSU averages eight more rebounds per game than their opponents in SEC contests thus far.

Why Tennessee will win?

1. LSU is 0-4 vs the RPI top 50. Tennessee ranks No. 21 in the RPI.
2. The Vols have played the third toughest schedule in the nation with four losses by 10 points or less.
3. Tennessee ranks in the top 20 nationally in offensive rebounds and total rebounds per game.

What is the Key to the Game?

Tennessee's defense. The Vols defense has not played great this year allowing 43 percent from the field and 35 percent from the three point line. The Vols will be able to score points against LSU, but can they stop them in crunch time?

Prediction

Almost all of the stats point to LSU, but you have to take into account their much weaker schedule. When the Tigers faced their toughest opponent of the season last Sunday they lost by 10 at home. I think Tennessee takes this one, but closer than expected.

Tennessee wins by 2-8 points

Other SEC Games This Week:

South Carolina over Vanderbilt

Florida over Georgia

Bama's firing of Gottfried may actually rally the team and Arkansas is snake bit in the SEC.

Where is Texas Pan American?

Season: 9-7 SU through 1/25

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On January 24th,the LSU basketball team faced the Xavier Musketeers in a non-conference match-up. Though LSU was able to put a good fight in front of nearly 14,000 fans, they ended up losing to Xavier by the score of 80-70.

It is very hard to find positives out of a loss, but there are some positives that came out of this game.

First, LSU proved that they could hang with a nationally ranked team. The game was close throughout the whole game. The play that just about put the nail in the coffin was when Xavier was able to make a basket to increase the score to 76-67 with roughly two minutes left and LSU wasn't able to come back from that.

So, for most of the game, LSU proved that they could play with the big boys.

Second, LSU was able to gain experience and confidence. Up to this game, LSU had played some OK teams, but nothing like this. They showed their inexperience with some missed shots and missed free throws. This game, in my opinion, will help LSU progress through the season and into the NCAA tournament.

Finally, they were able to learn what was affective and who was able to execute the best on certain plays. They were able to work the ball inside and get some baskets, which may help for the future, and able to see who their go to guy will be for the rest of the year.

Chris Johnson, Tasmin Mitchell, and Quinton Thornton have been able to abuse teams down low, but they still need to have consistent shooting, which proved to be the killer during the game.

Marcus Thornton proved that he can play at a high level of intensity during every game and have consistent shooting as well. He was able to put up 30 points during this game, but didn't get that kind of production out of his teammates.

Though LSU was out-rebounded 40-27, had an awful night shooting, and an even worse night at the free throw line, making 12-19, they were able to play a great game. Think of it like this, if LSU could have made most of the easy shots they missed and played a little better defense, they could have gotten a win.

LSU is a team on the rise. If you're going to play LSU, you better come ready because this team is for real.

I apologize for this being so late, I meant to write it right after SEC play had started two weeks ago, but school has been really hectic as graduation nears for me. But, here is my mid-season awards for the SEC.

Unfortunately, the SEC is way down this basketball year, however there have been several bright spots along the way this season.

Player of the Year

Jodie Meeks' 54 points against Tennessee was very impressive. Meeks is a leader on the court and, when he is healthy, he is so dangerous and has stood out as the player of the year in the SEC this season.

Coach of the Year

There have been several good stories this year, but the most impressive has been Coach Trent Johnson down at LSU. He has turned a dysfunctional team into one that plays team basketball, something that has been missing in LSU basketball since the Dale Brown era.

Surprise of the West

It has to be LSU's dominance, the Tigers are 3-1 in the league and the wins have been blowouts including an 83-51 win at Ole Miss. The Tigers have gotten great defensive play from the entire team and Marcus Thornton and Taz Mitchell have just lit up opposing defenses.

Disappointment of the West

Arkansas has disappointed after having a strong non-conference year. The Razorbacks have gone 0-3 in the SEC after beating teams like Oklahoma and Texas earlier this year. All hope is not lost for the Razorbacks and they may be able to turn their conference season around, but its not going to get any easier for the Razorbacks as they face Alabama at home on Wednesday and then travel to LSU for a big match-up on January 31st.

Surprise of the East

How bout the Cat's from Kentucky. Apparently no one told Billie Gillispie that Tennessee was supposed to be the highlight of the East this year. Although they had a disappointing loss to VMI to start the year, Kentucky has really stepped up through the year and led by Jodie Meeks, the Wildcats have a chance to win the SEC East.

Disappointment of the East

No doubt it is Tennessee, a team that was supposed to be the highlight of a down SEC conference has not come through. They got blown out at home vs. Kentucky (of course it helped that Meeks had 54). They have also lost twice to Gonzaga and at Temple. Tennessee needs to step it up if they want to win the SEC East.

Outlook and Predictions

Obviously, the SEC is down for sure this year. However, this is a good year to be down because many of the mid-major teams are strangely absent from Tournament Predictions which means more spots for the SEC. LSU has a big game tonight (1/24) against No. 13 Xavier which could be Coach Johnson's first signature win at LSU. I think the SEC will get four maybe five teams into the tournament this year; LSU, Bama, Kentucky, Tennessee, and possibly Florida.

I think LSU has the best chance to win the West and Kentucky will be able to go on and win the East.

Only time will tell what is going to happen the rest of this year, but, among all the negative, there have been some very positive things that have really gone under the radar this season in the SEC.

Setting:  The Pete Maravich Assembly Center is the scene for this pivotal non-conference matchup as Sean Miller’s No. 15 Xavier Musketeers (16-2/5-0) travel south to take on Trent Johnson’s Louisiana State University Tigers (15-3/3-1).

Plots: LSU rides a 17-game home-winning streak into the contest. The Tigers are coming off an 81-57 triumph over Mississippi State—their third overall in a row. Xavier bring a seven-game streak into the tilt.

Sub-plots: The game pits teams from conferences battling for representation in the NCAA. It might be hard to imagine that just three years ago the Tigers were one of two SEC teams in the Final Four. 

The other was the eventual two-time champion, Florida. The Gators are the lone representative at No. 24 in this week’s AP Poll. The SEC might struggle to get many tickets to ‘The Dance.’ Beating a ranked team is vital for the Tigers.

Xavier will be LSU’s first Top 25 opponent of the season. The Musketeers represent the A10, a conference looking to build its tournament resume. Xavier is one of only nine schools to make multiple Elite Eight appearances in the last five years.

Trent Johnson has proven there is rebounding life after the Lopez twins. After five years at the helm for the Stanford Cardinal, Johnson’s Tigers rank seventh in the country with a rebound margin of 8.6.

Xavier has held 13 of their first 18 opponents under 40 percent from the field. The game is the Muskies' second against the SEC—beating Auburn earlier this year—81-74.  Xavier’s strength-of-schedule is ranked in the Top 20 with wins over Virginia Tech, Virginia, Memphis, Missouri, and Cincinnati.

Flashback: The game is the third meeting all-time between the schools. With the Tigers winning the last meeting in 1980: 78-62.

Characters to watch: Marcus Thornton leads three Tigers in double figures with 18 ppg. The senior has hit 36  trifectas on the campaign. Sophomore, Bo Spencer has chipped in 32 from behind the arc and averages 12 ppg.

Tasmin Mitchell throws in 15 ppg and grabs 6 boards per game. Chris Johnson leads the Tigers with 7.7 rpg. Thornton, Mitchell, and Johnson all grab two offensive rebounds per game.

Miller has developed a nine-player rotation that gives Xavier’s opponents fits. Three players average double figure points: B.J. Raymond, Derrick Brown, and C.J. Anderson, but Dante Jackson, Jason Love, Brad Redford, Terrell Holloway, Kenny Frease, and Jamel McLean have all taken turns scoring double-digit points in a contest.

Conflict: LSU’s play on the arc is more about potential than it is consistency.  Nonetheless, the Tigers are capable of scoring in bunches from long distance. Just ask Washington St.

The Cougars were and are ranked number one in the country in scoring defense holding teams to 52 a game. The Tigers shot 45 percent (9/20) from the arc and pasted a 64 on the board against Tony Bennett’s gang.

Xavier will need to use their depth and athleticism to neutralize LSU on the arc and keep the Tigers at bay on the boards.

Resolution: C.J. Anderson has established himself as an inside scoring threat. This will continue against the Tigers. Watch for Redford coming off the bench. He has no conscience when it comes to long range shots.

First Team All-Casey

G Jeff Teague Wake Forest

G Stephen Curry Davidson

G/F Dionte Christmas Temple

F Blake Griffin Oklahoma

F Tyler Hansbrough UNC

Second team

G LeVance Fields Pittsburgh

G Kyle McAlarney Notre Dame

G/F Jodie Meeks Kentucky

F Luke Harangody Notre Dame

F DeJuan Blair Pittsburgh

As of January 16, LSU is a perfect 13-0 at the P-Mac but an awful 0-3 away from the P-Mac. LSU looks to end their road woes against SEC West rival Ole Miss Saturday, January 17.

LSU's production, both offense and defense, away from home is the exact opposite of what their production is at home.

First, LSU averages 60.3 ppg of offense away from while giving up 76.0 ppg on defense. LSU has not been able to consistently score away from home. They have scoring droughts of about four to five minutes in the three games that they have played away from home.

For example, take the Utah game, all that Utah did was dump it down to their big man, Luke Nevill, and let him tear apart Chris Johnson to the whole while LSU was only able to shoot jump shots the whole game. They had no answer for what they knew was coming Trent Johnson couldn't do a thing about it.

Second, LSU is getting mezmorized by the intensity of the opposing team's crowd. It's like when the crowd gets into it, LSU just loses it.

For example, LSU's game versus Alabama. LSU was down by one looking to take the lead, they even had the momentum, until a moving screen was called against Garrett Temple and that basically killed LSU's momentum because the crowd started to get into it and that just took the life out of them.

In that game, LSU scored a season-low 59 points in that loss.

Finally, get everyone involved in the game. Now what this means is get the ball to an open teammate instead of trying to create your own shot. That piece of advice right there could have been what Marcus Thornton needed in the loses to Texas A&M.

LSU could have won the game against Texas A&M if Marcus Thornton would have passed the ball to his trailing teammate instead of trying to get a block called, which turned into a charge and basically sealed LSU's fate right there.

Everything LSU does wrong on the road they do right at home. Let's see if LSU can overcome their road woes and win their first road game of the season.

The game plan called by LSU coach Trent Johnson this year has worked very well. The Tigers have been able to accumulate a 12-3 overall record, which is one of the best records they have had to start a season in awhile. Though they are on a two-game losing streak, they can turn it all around against South Carolina.

The first thing that LSU needs to do is to feed off of the crowd. As they feed off of the crowd, the intensity of the game will fall in their favor. The reason LSU hasn't been able to win away from home is because they haven't been able to take the crowd out of the game.

The second key is to shut down the big scorers on the other team.

During the Alabama game, Trent Johnson should have put Garrett Temple, who is thought to be the best defender in the SEC, on Ronald Steele in the first half and Cenario Hillman in the second half, while having Bo Spencer switch with him. If LSU wants a chance to win a lot more games, they need to have their best defender defending the leading scorer on the other team.

The final key is to get physical on offense and defense.

LSU has been showing a lack of physicality on both sides of the ball. Against Texas A&M, they showed physicality, and if it wasn't for a questionable call against Marcus Thornton, they could have won. However, Utah and Alabama were able to push the Tigers around.

Chris Johnson needs to start driving to the basket and stop letting people back him down, and the whole LSU teams needs to start getting more into the faces of the players they are guarding. If they play good defense, they can turn it in to an easy two points and win games with ease, instead of blowing it away in the second half after keeping it close in the first half.

LSU has the potential to win the SEC, and possibly a National Championship, but they have to step it up on defense to get the offense which leads to success.