Preview: Tigers look for revenge against A&M

A month ago today the Texas A&M Aggies came into the PMAC for a rare tipoff at 11:00 AM. It took a while for the home team to smell the coffee, but it eventually picked up steam and got things going.  Keith Hornsby provided a spark as he knocked down a trey at the buzzer closing out the first half. The Tigers went on to enjoy an 11-point lead halfway through the second half. That is when the team as a whole became trigger happy with the three-point basket and started launching shots from way downtown with nobody under the boards for the offensive rebounds. The Aggies did a better job adjusting to the missed shots and turned it into their advantage as they squeaked by to a final score of 67-64.

Johnny Jones hopes his team can rewrite history today as the teams collide this time in Reed Arena. Earlier in the week the coach compared his team then-and-now.

"I think offensively our flow, we are hopeful our decision making has been better for us", he said. "Defensively, I think we are a better defensive team at times in terms of understanding our rotations, where we need to be and dealing with opposing teams’ action and what they run offensively."

LSU (18-7, 7-5) have a 5-3 record since the loss against the Aggies including big road wins against Florida, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee. The game against Tennessee featured a first half where the Tigers shot 64-percent from the field and 70-percent from beyond the arc. With the win the Tigers entered into a fifth place tie in the SEC with the Georgia Bulldogs.

On the other hand, Texas A&M (17-7, 8-4) has a better record during the same span at 6-2 including wins against similar opponents Vanderbilt and Florida. Big man on campus Kourtney Roberson scored 20-points against the Gators which is his season high and collected eight rebounds. With the win the Aggies are in a third place tie in the league with the Ole Miss Rebels.

With only one game separating the teams in the standings, the game tonight at 8:00 PM on the SEC Network will determine much in the conference landscape going down the home stretch of the schedule and into the conference tournament in Nashville.