LSU (1-0) vs. Samford (1-1) Tickets only $2

Where Pete Maravich Assembly Center
When 7:00 PM

This early season matchup puts LSU (1-0) up against a well-coached Samford (1-1) Bulldog basketball team out of Birmingham, AL. This is the annual food drive game, and by bringing in a canned food item tickets will only be $2.

LSU
G Tremont Waters (5-11 FR) 27 pts, 6 reb, 5 ast
G Skylar Mays (6-4 SO) 7 pts, 3 reb, 5 ast
Wing Brandon Sampson (6-5 JR) 10 pts, 5 reb,
F Jeremy Combs (6-7 SR) 8 pts, 4 reb, 2 ast
C Duop Reath (6-11 SR) 11 pts, 2 reb

Bench
Wayde Sims (6-6 SO) 11 pts
Darryl Edwards (6-3 JR) 8 pts
Randy Onwuasor (6-3 SR) 4 pts
Aaron Epps (6-9 SR) DNP (Limited minutes against Samford)
Brandon Rachal (6-6 FR) 6 pts
Galen Alexander (6-6 FR) 5 pts
Mayan Kiir (6-9 FR) DNP (Do not know if he will play against Samford)

Samford
G Christen Cunningham (6-2 SR) 8.5 ppg, 3 rpg, 2.5 apg
G Josh Sharkey (5-10 SO) 7.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 4 apg
Wing Demetrius Denzel-Jackson (6-5 SR) 8.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
F Alex Thompson (6-8 SR) 10.5 ppg, 3.5 rpg
C Wyatt Walker (6-9 JR) 9.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg

Bench
G Triston Chambers (6-2 SO) 8.5 ppg
G Justin Coleman (5-10 JR) 7.5 ppg, 6 apg
F Alex Peters (6-8 SR) 4.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg
F Eric Adams (6-7 SR) 4.0 ppg, 3.5 rpg

LSU resumes action against a Samford team that figures to compete for a championship in the Southern Conference. Samford is very well coached by former national champion and Kentucky standout Scott Padgett. They play straight up man to man most of the way defensively and do a great job on ball and off ball screen defense. They are an experienced team and a very smart team that will look for the very best shot possible. The are not a very athletic team but they pride themselves on team defense and ball movement on offense. Unlike LSU when Samford substitutes they kind of bring in the exact same player as the ones they have coming out (Padgett is in his 4th year and this being his first full 4-year recruiting cycle).

Matchup to Watch
Reath versus Walker, although the entire LSU team in my opinion played well against Alcorn, Reath could have and quite frankly should have had a bigger night rebounding wise. I love that CWW has stressed guards rebounding down but for Reath to only grab 2 rebounds against an undersized Alcorn team was surprising. Walker is a hardworking anchor in place type post. If Reath can get his jump hook going early he could be in for a big night offensively.

Gameplan for LSU
The reason I have Combs starting and not Sims is that the opposing F for Samford in Thompson there best player is an experienced true post that I just think Combs will be a better matchup for. As the post of the bench in Adams gives both Epps and Sims a big matchuo advantage against. Look for LSU to get out in transition early, one great thing about guards rebounding down is that they can immediately initiate the break. LSU has been using multiple defenses in both scrimmages and against Alcorn but look for that to be lessened by a very experienced Samford team that will be able to handle multiple shifts accordingly. To show how experienced they are Cunningham for Samford is making his 104th consecutive start at the point for the Bulldogs.

Also a quick shoutout, unofficially naming this the Brady Bowl, as the last time Samford beat LSU in basketball he was the coach in 1996 for the Bulldogs. If you cannot make the game tune in to the radio as he does the broadcasts and im sure will discuss his time with the Samford program. LSU if they can control the tempo and continue to rebound down with guards and limit the turnovers should control this one. Also Aaron Epps makes his debut for the Tigers but will see limited time, why I also see Sims being the first body off the bench. There are plenty of good matchups for this game but one will be Tremont Waters to see if he can continue his hot shooting and playmaking against a much more disciplined team in Samford. This is the perfect game for Sampson and Reath to both get easy baskets and get 20pts each. Samford does a lot of little things well but in there loss to Arkansas (Lost by 39) the Hogs ran and Samford just was not athletic enough in the open floor. But if LSU gets out in transition and is able to find Sampson, Waters, and Edwards open looks for 3 watch out. Also I have been saying it all year need Onwuasor to step up and bfind his role, against Tulane he was forcing it, against Alcorn was not active offensively and was very passive. Samford is the type of team while well-disciplined you can find a rhythm, I think his ability to use his size to get into the middle against a team that is not very athletic and he can use his floater without the threat of a shot block, he also does a great job of getting contact and getting to the line, for LSU to surprise people in Maui and in the tourney we know what Edwards can do shooting wise, if we can just get Randy off the bench to be an 8-10 ppg scorer then we can surprise a lot of people.

Prediction
LSU 81
Samford 68