The LSU men’s basketball team on Wednesday night cleared another hurdle on the road its first Southeastern Conference regular-season championship since 2005-06. The Tigers rallied from an 18-point, first-half deficit and also scored 10 of the game’s final 11 points for a 72-69 victory at Arkansas. LSU’s victory—coupled with losses by Kentucky, South Carolina and Tennessee—gives the Tigers (22-4 overall, 10-1 SEC) a three-game lead over Florida (20-6, 7-4), South Carolina (18-6, 7-4), Kentucky (18-8, 7-4), Mississippi State (17-9, 7-4) and Tennessee (16-9, 7-4) with five games to play. More important, however, is that LSU owns the tiebreaker over South Carolina, Mississippi State and Tennessee; the Tigers play host to Florida on Tuesday night and play at Kentucky on Feb. 28.
LSU, ranked No. 23 by the Associated Press and No. 24 by USA Today/ESPN, plays host to Auburn (17-9, 6-5) on Saturday night in a game that matches two of the hottest teams in the conference. LSU has won seven in a row and 10 of its last 11 games, and Auburn has won four consecutive games. The teams are meeting for the first time this season, but play twice in the next five games. LSU makes a return trip to Auburn in the regular-season finale on March 7.
Meanwhile, LSU guard Garrett Temple and his family will appear on one of the features today on the SEC-TV broadcast at 5:30 p.m. The broadcast airs in Baton Rouge on Cox Cable Channel 38. SEC-TV reporter Courtney Jones interviewed Temple, older brother Collis III and father Collis Jr., who in 1971 became the first black basketball player at LSU.
