LSU looks to challenge Kentucky tonight at Rupp Arena
Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Now the big one. And it’s almost like old times.
LSU’s surprising run through the Southeastern Conference — really more of a tightrope act, according to head coach Will Wade — has been uplifting.
Now the Tigers get a chance to validate it.
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No truly memorable LSU basketball season is complete without a win over Kentucky, the SEC’s Big Blue.
The No. 19 Tigers (19-4, 9-1 SEC) will have that chance tonight when they visit famed Rupp Arena for a 6 p.m. tip off against a typical Wildcat team (20-3, 9-1).
“They’re the best program in league,” Wade said, adding that head coach John Calipari “doesn’t get near enough credit for how good a basketball coach he is.”
The SEC’s best program doesn’t actually lead the league at the moment — LSU and UK are tied for second behind nationally No. 1-ranked Tennessee (22-1, 10-0).
But the top of the standings could shake out a bit this week. Kentucky hosts Tennessee on Saturday.
But the Tigers could make quite a statement tonight in one of college basketball’s toughest arenas.
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“The more you have good weeks, (there are) bigger weeks ahead,” Wade said. “You want to keep building, keep building. We won two big games last week, but nobody cares about that. We have a big game (now).”
Indeed. Big games with Kentucky were once a mainstay of the LSU program.
But surprisingly, it will be the first time since the 2000 season that LSU and Kentucky have met when both were ranked — the first time in Rupp Arena since 1991. All time, they’ve split 10 games 5-5 when both were ranked.
Overall, Kentucky has won six of the last seven against LSU, with the Tigers last win coming in 2016. LSU’s last win in Rupp Arena came in 2009 when the Tigers swept two games against the Cats en route to their last SEC championship.
That was an 8-8 Kentucky team. This year is more like the vintage (but always one-and-done young) Cats under Calipari.
Kentucky hasn’t lost since Jan. 5 when the Wildcats opened SEC play with a 77-75 loss at Alabama.
The Tigers have won two straight since their first conference loss at home to Arkansas, and bring the reigning SEC player of the week (Tremont Waters) and freshman of the week (Naz Reid) to Lexington.
“They were two big reasons we were able to win two games last week.”
Waters averaged 22.5 points, 7.5 assists and five steals in the Tigers’ two wins last week at Mississippi State and at home against Auburn, while Reid averaged 21 points and 10 rebounds.
Both of those games continued the pattern for LSU of falling behind big early before rallying for a late win.
The Tigers, who started the tightrope act when they rallied from 16 down with just over two minutes remaining against Missouri three weeks ago, came back from 10 down in the second half to beat Mississippi State in overtime. The latest escape act came at home Saturday when they trailed Auburn by 16 before rallying for a 83-78 win.
Holes like that might be too deep to dig out of against Kentucky.
“They’re not afraid,” Calipari said of LSU. “Neither are we. We play the same. We’ve been down. We’ve been down 12-2, 16-4, I mean, looking at each other. I mean, so we’re both kind of the same. That’s why it should be an exciting game.”
LSU forward Naz Reid (0) pulls down an offensive rebound in front of Auburn guard Samir Doughty (10) and Auburn forward Chuma Okeke (5) in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019, in Baton Rouge, La. LSU won 83-78. (AP Photo/Bill Feig)
