Kentucky Wildcat Basketball – Know Your Enemy: LSU Tigers

GAME 19

LSU TIGERS 10-6 (1-4)
JANUARY 25, 2013 – 4:00 PM
 RUPP ARENA – LEXINGTON, KY

TV – SEC NETWORK

KENTUCKY LEADS SERIES 82-24

LAST FIVE MEETINGS
 3/9/2012: KENTUCKY 60 LSU 51*
 1/28/2012: KENTUCKY 74 LSU 50
 1/15/2011: KENTUCKY 82 LSU 44
 2/6/2010: KENTUCKY 81 LSU 55
 3/13/2009: LSU 67 KENTUCKY 58**
* SEC Tournament – New Orleans, LA
** SEC Tournament – Tampa, FL

Ever since John Calipari took over at the University of Kentucky, he has been undefeated against the LSU Tigers and three of his four wins have been of the blowout variety. New LSU coach Johnny Jones’s Tigers are 10-6 on the year, but are just 1-4 in the SEC. Over the last couple of years, LSU has feasted on out of conference cupcakes in November and December but fallen apart in the SEC. Last years team was 10-4 and finished 7-9 in the SEC. It has to be said however, that LSU’s lone SEC win was 58-54 over … Texas A&M. So we really can’t disparage the Tigers and assume this will be a blowout.

LSU’s best win is over Seton Hall and they did give Marquette all they wanted, losing 84-80. In the SEC, they have losses to Auburn, South Carolina, and Georgia plus a blowout loss to Florida. There is not a lot to indicate that this should be a real challenge for UK, but LSU did beat Texas A&M … and that is all I’m going to say there. With that said, let’s meet the Tigers.

PROJECTED STARTERS

Jan 16, 2013; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers guard Charles Carmouche (0) collides with South Carolina Gamecocks guard Brenton Williams (1) as forward Laimonas Chatkevicius (14) defends from behind on the play during the second half of a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. South Carolina defeated LSU 82-73. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

#0 – G CHARLES CARMOUCHE – SR – 6’4, 187
9.6 PPG, 3.9 RPG, 3.4 APG

Carmouche has not started the last couple of games due to sore knees, but I would expect him to start on Saturday. He’s solid at both ends of the court and is averaging 2.1 steals a game and loves to fire away from long-range. He is hitting 31.3% of his treys, but expect a deluge from him. He also distributes the ball well and makes the offense run when he is in.

Jan 23, 2013; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers guard Anthony Hickey (1) shoots over Texas A

#1 – G ANTHONY HICKEY – SO, 5’11, 182
11.7 PPG, 4.0 Rpg, 3.7 APG

Hickey, hailing from Hopkinsville, will no doubt be amped to play at Rupp Arena.  Hickey, as they say, never met a shot he did not like. He is 15-48 in his last THREE games, which equates to 31.2%. For the season, he is hitting 38.2% on the year and 31.9% on his three pointers and he heaves up almost 6 long-range bombs a game. That said, he is a pretty good passer that takes care of the ball and has an A/TO ratio a tad under 2.50.

Jan 16, 2013; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers guard Malik Morgan (24) passes as South Carolina Gamecocks forward Lakeem Jackson (30) defends during the second half of a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. South Carolina defeated LSU 82-73. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

#24 – G MALIK MORGAN – FR 6’4, 188
5.4 PPG, 3.4 RPG, 1.4 APG

Morgan has recently seen his time expand to becoming a starter and is a pretty solid rebounder and defender. He also hits 33% of his three pointers, which makes him enough of a threat to score from anywhere on the court. Like some freshmen, Morgan tends to disappear and is not involved in the offense at times.

Jan 23, 2013; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers forward Johnny O

#2 – F JOHNNY O’BRYANT III – SO, 6’9, 262
11.1 PPG, 7.9 RPG, 1.0 APG

O’Bryant is a guy that Kentucky recruited pretty hard a couple of years ago and has had a very nice season for the Tigers. He has improved his shooting percentage from 39.9% as a freshman to 48.1% this year. He is a scraper on the boards and is hard to move. He is coming off of back to back double doubles so he is really hitting his stride right now.

Jan 5, 2013; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU Tigers center Andrew Del Piero (55) dunks against the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats during the second half of a game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. LSU defeated Bethune-Cookman 79-63. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

#55 – C ANDREW DEL PIERO – SR, 7’3, 254
4.7 PPG, 3.3 RPG, 1.4 BPG

Yea, I did the double take at the 7’3 as well. Del Piero did not play at all his first two years at LSU and in just 12 minutes last year. He seems to start, but only plays 14.3 minutes a game and only 5 minutes in the last game versus Texas A&M. For someone so green, he shoots well (56.4%) and does not get into foul trouble (1.1). It’s interesting with those stats that he does not play more. If you doubled his stats to 28 minutes a game, he would not have terrible numbers, but there must be a reason why he is such a mystery.