LSU vs. Tulane - 7:30ct (Exhibition)

Where: Fogelman Arena - Devlin Fieldhouse (Tulane Campus)
When: 7:30ct Halloween Night Oct. 31

Projected Starters


LSU
G Skylar Mays (6-4 200 SO) 8.3 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 3.6 apg
G Randy Onwuasor(6-3 210 SR/TR) 23.3 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 3.2 apg (Stats are from last season at Southern Utah)
W Brandon Sampson (6-5 184 JR) 11.6 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 1.4 apg
F Aaron Epps (6-10 214 SR) 6.2 ppg, 4.4 rpg
C Duop Reath (6-11 244 SR) 12.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.5 bpg

Bench
Tremont Waters (5-11 167 FR)
Daryl Edwrads (6'3 165 JR)
Jeremby Combs (6-7 215 SR/TR)
Mayan Kiir (6-9 201 FR)
Wayde Sims (6-6 217 SO)

Tulane
G Ray Ona Embo (6-5 188 SO) 6.4 ppg, 2.3 rpg
G Melvin Frazier (6-6 200 SO) 11.5 ppg, 4.6 rpg
G Jordan Cornish (6-6 220 JR/TR) Transfer from Tennessee
W Cameron Reynolds (6-8 225 SR) 17.0 ppg 6.8 rpg
F Blake Paul (6-9 250 SO) 2.9 ppg, 2.2 rpg

Bench
Colin Slater (6-1 187 SO)
Sammis Reyes (6-7 230 JR)
Caleb Daniels (6-4 205 FR)
Bul Ajang (6-10 225 FR)
Buay Koka (7-0 200 FR)

First "game" of the year for both teams. First time LSU and Tulane have played on campus at Tulane since 1973, last time they played Tulane beat LSU in 2008. It is an exhibition to which all of the gate going to the American Red Cross to support Hurricane relief. Tickets are only $5 and it is general admission for the entire arena. Both teams have said they are treating it like a normal game so expect to see a pretty good game. Both programs are rebuilding and coming off of down years. LSU is in its first year under new head coach Will Wade (Previously VCU), the Tigers went 10-21 last year and struggled on the road, but have added some new pieces to this years team. Tulane is in its second year under longtime NBA head coach Mike Dunleavy Sr., they struggled last year only going 6-25, but also add some new pieces and look to improve in their second year in a very complex offense.

Look for it to be a very low scoring contest and it to be very slow paced. Both teams will be adding important transfers that should help both teams this year. LSU adds Randy Onwuasor who averaged over 21 points per game at Southern Utah and has Power 5 experience previously being at Texas Tech. Randy Edwards is also a JUCO transfer for the Tigers who shot over 46% from deep last year. Jeremy Combs also comes in and adds immediate front court depth coming from UNT with Tony Benford. Look for LSU to be much improved on the defensive end. Freshman point guard Tremont Waters is a player to watch, he is a true lead ball handler and while he is small for a D-1 point he makes up for it with toughness and was considered one of the best passers in this years recruiting class nationwide.

Dunleavy runs a very complex offense but they struggled mightily on the offensive end last year. While they add a transfer in Jordan Cornish from Tennessee who sat out last year, they are still very inexperienced and will struggle this year IMO to score. I could see Caleb Daniels a freshman from St. Aug in New Orleans starting, he brings a true point guard to Dunleavy and is in the mold of former St. Aug and Texas standout Javan Felix, tough, methodical, and great in transition. LSU should have the advantage inside but Tulane does add a pair of frontcourt teammates from a great program in the Patrick School of NJ. In Ajang and Koka both are athletic bigs but are still freshman.

I hope to see LSU make strides on the defensive side and control the glass. CWW has raved about the strides Epps and Sampson have made, look for those to be the biggest matchups of the game with Sampson going against Cornish and Epps matching up with Cam Reynolds.

Final Score Prediction
LSU 52
Tulane 40