Men’s Basketball Travels to Starkville in Need of a Win

After a full week away, the LSU men’s basketball team is back on the floor in yet another road contest, traveling to Mississippi State and taking on the Bulldogs in The Hump.

LSU was supposed to host the Gators Saturday afternoon but that game was called off due to COVID-19 and contact tracing issues inside the Florida program. LSU has lost four of its last five games and is trending towards being on the outside looking in when it comes to making the NCAA Tournament.

While a win over an okay at best Mississippi State team won’t suddenly take LSU off the bubble, a loss would seriously damage the Tiger’s chances. LSU is currently 41st in the latest NET rankings but 2-5 against Quadrant 1 opponents. The fact of the matter is, LSU doesn’t have nearly enough quality wins on its resumé to offset a loss to a team like Mississippi State, currently 73rd in the NET.

Fortunately for LSU, a win over Miss State would count as a Q1 win. Beating a NET Top-75 team on the road is a Quadrant 1 win and the Bulldogs just barely meet that threshold.

LSU comes into Wednesday’s game a little banged up. Junior forward Darius Days is working his way back from an ankle injury; Will Wade said that Days started doing 5-0 work and, while doubtful, could play Wednesday. Wade also said that Shareef O’Neal’s pesky foot injury has been re-aggravated and “we’ll see” if he’ll play Wednesday.

It’ll be a late tip Wednesday night for LSU. The game is slated to start at 8:00 and will be carried on ESPNU.