The calendar may say only December but another of those March-like contests that have dotted the early season basketball calendar will take place tonight (Dec 5) at 8 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The sixth-ranked and undefeated Texas A&M Aggies (7-0) will travel to Baton Rouge to take on the ninth-ranked LSU Fighting Tigers in a rematch of a second round NCAA Tournament game from this past March. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
Back in March, in Jacksonville, Fla., in that second-round game LSU senior Darrel Mitchell hit a three-pointer with less than 10 seconds to play that gave LSU a 58-57 victory over the Aggies in a hard-fought defensive struggle for both teams. While not all, a majority of the participants in that game will be on display on the floor of the Maravich Center.
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Tiger’s sophomore forward Darnell Lazare spent Sunday and Monday in rehab for his sprained left ankle suffered in the first half against Tulane Saturday at the New Orleans Arena and his status was listed as questionable for the contest. If he misses his first start of the year, LSU could opt to go with Magum Rolle in a straight position switch, go he could go small and move Tack Minor in as part of a three-guard lineup.
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The Aggies are coming into the game off a 74-62 over Pacific as A&M remains one of the five unbeaten teams in the Big 12. This will be their first road trip and will be followed by a trip to California to face top-ranked UCLA in the John Wooden Classic Saturday. That will be the second LSU opponent to face back-to-back Final Four teams after Wichita State beat George Mason and LSU on the road in successive Saturdays.
Joseph Jones is the leading scorer for the Aggies, averaging 15.1 points per game with Acie Law averaging 15.0 points a contest. Joseph is among the Big 12 leaders in field goal percentage (2nd at 65.5 percent) and free throw percentage (3rd at 81.6). The Aggies lead the Big 12 in scoring defense allowing just 48.9 points per game.
Glen Davis, who had his second double double in the win at Tulane Saturday, is averaging 18.8 points per game, best in the SEC and 9.8 rebounds, second best in the league. Davis had 20 points and 13 rebounds in the win over the Wave as the Tigers used a 15-0 run to overcome a halftime deficit against Tulane Saturday.
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LSU is a slight -2 ½ point favorite installed this morning (Dec 5) at most Las Vegas and offshore sports-books with a total of 124 points. The Tigers are 1-2 ATS with the OVER cashing in 2-of-3 board games. The Aggies are 4-2 ATS with the UNDER cashing in 4-of-6 board games they played.
