The 15-4 (3-1) LSU Tigers travel to Knoxville tonight to take on the 12-6 (3-1) Tennessee Volunteers. The Vols seek to recapture some of that Thompson-Boling magic against the well-rounded and tough Tigers.
Observations from the stats
Something's got to give, Groundhog Day edition. For the third game in a row, the Vols's highly-ranked scoring offense (81.2 PPG) runs into a brick wall scoring defense. The Tigers ranked 55th in the nation and are holding their opponents to 62.1 PPG. To make matters worse, LSU has the offense (59th in scoring) to go along with a great defense, thus putting them at 22nd in the nation in scoring margin.
Unlike Memphis, these guys can score from the perimeter. The Tigers hit 46.1% from the field and 38.6% from three-point range. Our defense has improved over the past several games, but honk if you don't think we're in for another long night against another guard.
And that, and that, and that, too? But wait, there's more! LSU also has better numbers in rebounds of all things. And assist-to-turnover ratio. And blocks, steals, turnovers, and turnover margin. Deep breath, y'all. This could very well be our fourth loss at home in five games.
LSU players to watch
Um, all of them? Four of five starters anyway. Marcus Thornton, Tasmin Mitchell, Chris Johnson, and Garrett Temple are all nationally ranked in some important category. With that many guys serving as key contributors, it's better to just bust out a chart:
| PTS | REB | AST | TO | STL | BLK | FG% | FT% | 3P% | |
| Marcus Thornton | 18.9 |
4.8 |
2.1 |
1.6 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
.483 |
.693 |
.398 |
| Tasmin Mitchell | 15.5 |
6.3 |
1.5 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
0.7 |
.549 |
.753 |
.429 |
| Chris Johnson | 7.8 |
7.6 |
1.4 |
1.3 |
0.5 |
2.3 |
.419 |
.714 |
.250 |
| Garrett Temple | 7.0 |
4.6 |
4.2 |
1.9 |
2.3 |
0.7 |
.389 |
.829 |
.326 |
Other Stuff
KenPom's prediction: Tennessee wins, 79-73, and has a 72% chance of winning. Hmm. Okay, well that's more like it.
Bullets!
- Absent from that player chart above for LSU is Bo Spencer, who LSU lists as a "scoring guard." Well, who isn't?
- The Tigers went almost eight minutes in the second half without scoring in a loss to Xavier on Saturday.
- This is Trent Johnson's first year as the Tigers' head coach. He is not John Brady.
- Marcus Thornton was last week's SEC Player of the Week. Against Mississipi State and Xavier, Thornton averaged 30.5 points on 55.5 percent shooting from the field
and 53.3 percent shooting from three-point range. Somebody guard this guy. Make that somebodies.
And on to the stats:
KEY STATS COMPARISON |
 |
 |
||
| Category | Rank |
Actual |
Rank |
Actual |
| Scoring Offense | 11 |
81.2 |
59 |
75.7 |
| Scoring Defense | 300 |
74.3 |
55 |
62.1 |
| Scoring Margin | 81 |
6.9 |
22 |
13.6 |
| Field-Goal Percentage | 102 |
45.3 |
66 |
46.1 |
| Field-Goal Percentage Defense | 182 |
43.3 |
45 |
39.7 |
| Three-Point Field Goals Per Game | 172 |
6.2 |
198 |
5.9 |
| Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage | 263 |
30.0 |
31 |
38.6 |
| Three Pt FG Defense | 257 |
0.358 |
87 |
0.323 |
| Free-Throw Percentage | 143 |
69.3 |
86 |
71.4 |
| Rebound Margin | 30 |
6.4 |
16 |
7.5 |
| Assists Per Game | 18 |
16.4 |
38 |
15.8 |
| Assist Turnover Ratio | 56 |
1.13 |
15 |
1.31 |
| Blocked Shots Per Game | 99 |
3.9 |
14 |
5.9 |
| Steals Per Game | 176 |
6.7 |
45 |
8.4 |
| Turnovers Per Game | 197 |
14.5 |
23 |
12.1 |
| Turnover Margin | 140 |
0.6 |
64 |
2.3 |
| Personal Fouls Per Game | 282 |
20.4 |
97 |
17.4 |
Well that doesn't look encouraging at all.
| PLAYERS TO WATCH | |
|
||||
| Category | Player | Rank | Actual | Player | Rank | Actual |
| Points PG | Tyler Smith | 81 | 17.7 | Marcus Thornton | 45 | 18.9 |
| FG% | Tasmin Mitchell | 40 | 54.9 | |||
| 3-Point FG PG | ||||||
| 3-Point FG% | ||||||
| FT % | ||||||
| Rebounds PG | Wayne Chism | 52 | 8.7 | |||
| Assists PG | ||||||
| Blocks PG | Chris Johnson | 36 | 2.3 | |||
| Steals PG | Garrett Temple | 31 | 2.3 | |||
| Assist-TO Ratio |
Bobby Maze | 81 | 1.97 | Garrett Temple | 52 | 2.14 |