Basketball tries to get back on track against Texas A&M

The LSU men’s basketball team (10-4, 5-3) had a rough week last week.

The Tigers began last week in sole possession of second place in the SEC and had a chance to climb into first if they could beat Alabama. Instead, the Tide masqueraded as a walking buzzsaw with Steph Curry like shooting and dropped an SEC record 23 three-pointers on LSU’s head.

Five days later, LSU went to Rupp Arena, long serving as the Tigers’ house of horrors, and lost by double-digits to a Kentucky team that is arguably the most disappointing group in college basketball.

Fortunately for LSU they still have 10 conference games to play—plus a massive date with No. 10 Texas Tech in the Big 12/SEC Challenge—to prove to the NCAA Tournament selection committee they’re worthy of a bid. The redemption tour begins tonight in College Station, where LSU tries to sweep a Texas A&M team that has also lost two straight games.

LSU and A&M opened conference play against each other on December 29th and Cam Thomas had the best game of his season, scoring 32 points in a comfortable 77-54 win. Since then, A&M has dropped four of its last five games and are currently 7-6 overall, but 2-5 in conference.

But it’s been a rough January for LSU, too. The Tigers are 4-3 this month and have allowed teams to score 75 points or more six times. This includes giving up 82 to a Kentucky team that had been averaging 64 points a game and 105 to Alabama.

Hopefully this is a get-right game for LSU because the road only gets tougher after Tuesday. LSU hosts No. 10 Texas Tech this Saturday, travels to Alabama (ranked 9th!!!) next Wednesday and has a rematch with Florida that following Saturday.

But the Tigers can’t afford to look ahead. There’s a losing streak that needs to come to an end tonight.