LSU men’s basketball plays at Georgia Tuesday night in first of two straight SEC road games

With end of regular season in sight and LSU making a push for an NCAA tournament bid, LSU takes its three-game win streak on the road for two consecutive battles starting Tuesday for a 6 p.m. CT game at Georgia.

LSU is 14-6 and tied for second in the Southeastern Conference with Arkansas at 9-4. Georgia is 13-9 overall and 6-9 in the SEC.

The Tigers are the fourth highest team in the NCAA net rankings at No. 27. Alabama is No. 8, Tennessee is No. 17 despite two consecutive losses and Arkansas is No. 26.

“Everybody’s gotta know where we are, know what we’re playing for and know what’s ahead,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “And knowing the positives and the negatives about what’s ahead and what the repercussions are both good and bad.” 

The Tigers have won at Mississippi State (94-80), vs. then No. 16 Tennessee (78-65) and scored over 100 points in an SEC game for the first time since 1994 in a 104-80 win over Auburn this past Saturday. 

“I think we’ve found a good balance right now,” Wade said of his eight-man rotation. “Just got to stay the course with it, win or lose. The results have been better, but our preparation has been better. Everything that goes into winning has been a lot better as well.”

Georgia defeated then No. 20 Missouri last Tuesday, 80-70, before losing at Florida, 70-63 on Saturday.

This will be the second time in the last three years that the teams will meet twice in the same year. LSU won the first meeting on Jan. 6 in Baton Rouge in a wild game, 94-92 in overtime. That game featured 20 lead changes and nine ties. 

The Tigers have shot over 50 percent in each of the last three games. Besides LSU’s big four of guards Cam Thomas and Javonte Smart and forwards Trendon Watford and Darius Days, there have been key contributions from forwards Aundre Hyatt, Josh LeBlanc Sr. and Mwani Wilkerson and guards Eric Gaines and Jalen Cook.

LSU will be looking for its fourth league win on the road in seven games as it stands 3-3 in SEC road games with wins at Ole Miss, at Texas A&M and at Mississippi State. 

The Tigers will be in Fayetteville on Saturday at 1 p.m. to play Arkansas at Bud Walton Arena before returning home for what could be the final game of the regular season on March 2 against Vanderbilt.