WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. – The LSU Tigers, looking to rebound from a Friday setback, faces UCF Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. CT at Colonial Hall at the Greenbrier in the third-place game of the Greenbrier Tipoff.
Both teams are 4-1 and coming off losses on Friday. The Tigers fell to Penn State, 74-63, while UCF dropped am 86-70 decision to nationally ranked Wisconsin in the second semifinal game.
The LSU-UCF game will be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network (Guaranty Media Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) with former LSU Basketball head coach John Brady and JD Byars, sitting in for Chris Blair. Jack Benjamin and Matt McCall will have the television call on the CBS Sports Network.
Jalen Reed, who hit 6-of-10 field goals and Vyctorius Miller each had 14 points, while Cam Carter had 11 for the Tigers. LSU shot 37.3 percent from the field for the game and it was consistent, making 11-of-30 in the first half and 11-of-29 in the second half. The Tigers made five treys and 14-of-20 from the line.
LSU battled through out the game, rallying from five down with three minutes to go in the first half to take a 28-27 lead. However, Pittsburgh ran off the first 13 points of the second half to go up 12, but LSU twice was able to get the game down to four points playing a four-guard setup that allowed the offense to spread out and flow better, but as Coach McMahon pointed out postgame led to some defensive issues.
“… So we went with a four-guard lineup to try and space the floor and find some different ways to score. I thought it helped us get some baskets. Vyctorius Miller was terrific for us in the second half. He opened up some space for Jalen down in the post but then you saw there were also some tradeoffs on our defense,” said LSU Coach McMahon.
Jordan Ivy-Curry led UCF in their loss to the Badgers with 13 points, while Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson each had 11 points. UCF shot 39.3 percent (21-62) with two treys and 26-of-37 at the free throw line. UCF out rebounded Wisconsin, 41-39, with 32 points in the paint.
Ivy-Curry leads UCF with a 16.8 scoring average, with Hall at 16.2 through five games.
UCF is coached by Johnny Dawkins, in his ninth season in the head coaching position. Dawkins previously coached for eight years at Stanford. He was the national player of the year as a senior in 1986 while at Duke.
“UCF is a really talented team, had the great win over Texas A&M earlier in the season,” said Coach McMahon. “I think when you look at their ability to play in transition, they are one of the top teams in the country there. So our transition defense will be critical (Sunday). I think they are an elite offensive rebounding team, which presents some problems for us. That will be a huge focus in our preparation.
“On the offensive side of the ball, they do a good job of forcing turnovers. So our continued focus on ball security becomes important, and we have been struggling to shoot the ball from the perimeter. Their opponents are taking 30 threes a game so they really do a good job protecting their paint. We’ve got to step up and shoot the ball with great conference from the perimeter.”
Saturday, the Tigers worked out for about 45 minutes late in the morning in preparation for Sunday afternoon’s contest. The team is scheduled to return to Baton Rouge following Sunday’s play and will face Northwestern State on Nov. 29 (the Friday after Thanksgiving) at 7 p.m. in the Maravich Center. Fans can show their Oklahoma-LSU football ticket to receive a free ticket to the basketball game.
Also, Monday will be the beginning of a Black Friday ticket deal for LSU Basketball. The 2-Pack Deal allows fans to pick from either the Florida State, Florida Gulf Coast or New Orleans game in December and get the Vanderbilt game (Jan. 4) added on. Sale ends at midnight on Monday, December 2nd.
