Can LSU Make It 2 In A Row At Texas A&M, Which Has Lost 2 Straight?

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

Suddenly, LSU has momentum.

And No. 11 Texas A&M does not.

The Tigers (12-5, 1-3 Southeastern Conference) broke their silence in the SEC Tuesday with a win over also-0-3-at-the-time Arkansas with a 78-74 victory. The Aggies (13-4, 2-2 SEC), meanwhile, lost at No. 8 Kentucky by 81-69 after falling at home to No. 4 Alabama, 94-88, last Saturday.

Texas A&M and LSU tip off at 7:30 p.m. Saturday on the SEC Network in College Station, Texas.

The Aggies do not do anything particularly great, but they are a very good rebounding team at No. 14 in the nation in boards margin at 8.7 with 41.6 a game and 32.9 allowed. LSU is 100th in the nation in rebounding margin with 39.4 a game and 35.5 allowed.

But A&M is not overly tall inside. Solomon Washington, a 6-foot-7 junior forward, leads the Aggies in rebounding with just 5.9 a game. But three others are averaging at least five a game – 6-7 senior forward Anderson Garcia with 5.4 off the bench, 6-4 senior starting guard Zhuric Phelps with 5.0 and a team-high 15.8 points a game, and 6-8 senior forward Henry Coleman III with 5.0 a game.

LSU found a new rebounding source in the win over Arkansas as 6-9 junior forward Daimion Collins grabbed a season-high 10 after getting no more than six over his previous five games. Dji Bailey, a 6-5 senior guard, has pulled down eight and nine boards in his last two games.

The Tigers will need more from 6-8 redshirt freshman forward Corey Chest, who is averaging 7.2 a game, but had just three in the two games before Arkansas when he got six. Derek Fountain, a 6-10 senior forward, could be an answer. He has 12 in his last two games after sporadic playing time previously.

As important, LSU played tougher inside at Ole Miss and against Arkansas.

“I think our guys are starting to figure some of that out on both ends of the court because you have to play with physicality, not just on the glass, but offensively, even if you just want to get a shot off in this league,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “Dji Bailey’s rebounding was huge for us (vs. Arkansas). He finished some tough plays at the rim over some of the best shot blocking in the country.”

LSU’s other guards have also been adapting to the physical play that hampered them in the 0-3 SEC start. Senior Cam Carter hit 27 against Arkansas on 7-of-15 shooting with 3 of 6 from 3-point range. Senior Jordan Sears scored 17 off the bench on 5-of-13 shooting with 3 of 8 from beyond the arc and had three assists with two steals and only one turnover.

“Our guards looked a lot more comfortable to me than they did in the first three outings versus the pressure,” McMahon said.

Freshman guard Vyctorius Miller, who is averaging 10.1 points a game, is questionable for Texas A&M with an ankle injury suffered at Ole Miss. He scored in double figures nine times in non-conference play, but has just six in three SEC games.