LSU 76 @ Houston 82 Final - ESPN2

Intro
Your basketball Tigers return to action tonight as they head down I-10 to face the undefeated and ranked Houston Cougars out of the American Athletic Conference. Houston is a very well coached and physical team that knows who they are and exactly what they want to do. This is an extremely important matchup for both teams as it relates to future seeding and tournament aspirations. Very rarely do either schools get opportunities to face-off in Top-25 level matchups in-season, outside of preseason tournaments. Not only is this a big matchup for RPI/NET purposes but also big momentum heading into conference play.

Little bit about Houston
As previously mentioned the Cougars are undefeated on the year but also have some impressive wins. While they will no longer be undefeated after tonight they do have wins @BYU, against a ranked Oregon team, and they easily handled @Oklahoma State who beat LSU in Orlando. They are coached by Kelvin Sampson who is in his 5th year at the helm. He has been a winner everywhere he has been, but also is the godfather to characters like Bruce Pearl in college basketball. He has coached Washington State, Oklahoma, Indiana, and Houston to NCAA Tourney play and had his greatest success at Oklahoma going to the dance 11/12 years and reaching the Final Four and Elite Eight once. Coach Sampson runs a lot of flex principles and high hand in your face man-to-man defense. They will press but not as often as they could, as they like to keep the tempo and pace down.

Houston The Team
PG Galen Robinson (SR) 6'1 190
G Corey Davis (SR) 6'1 190
G Armoni Brooks (JR) 6'3 195
F Cedrick Alley (FR) 6'5 230
C Breaon Brady (SR) 6'8 260

Bench
Brison Bresham (SO) 6'8 225
Fabian White (SO) 6'7 230
Nate Hinton (FR) 6'5 210

Houston really only plays 7 and if he could Coach Sampson would probably only play 6 as he has complete confidence in his guards and lets them go where they take them. Brooks and Davis each average 16.5 PPG and Brooks especially is as dangerous a scorer as you will find in college basketball as he is shooting 46% from 3 (33-72) and even at 6'1 averages 7 rebounds a game as well. There is no secret to this team they are outside/inside focused dribble penetration and ball movement are there calling card, there bigs are space eaters and screen setters for most of there action on offense. It will be a tough test for our guards to rebound down for 40 minutes as everyone on the Cougars is expected to rebound. Brady inside is prone to foul trouble but at 260 he is an absolute rock and it will be interesting to see how Naz Reid attacks him.

Keys to the Game

Team 3pt Shooting - As a team LSU shoots 34% and Houston shoots 37%. But both teams have multiple guys that can make 4-5 a night if they are allowed the freedom to do so. I think this will be a slug it out type game and the team that can consistently hit the 3 ball will have a very good chance to control and win the game.

Fouls - Normally this is not a big key to any game, but Houston is not very deep at all and they are not very focused on scoring inside. Look for LSU to pound the paint early and get whoever Alley is guarding iso'd down low. One way to control tempo is with physical play and Houston is the more physical of the two but it can be negated with smart and tough decisions.

Prediction
This will be a primetime matchup for the Tigers and in the late slot at 8PM, they will come in hungry and with something to prove I think. There still are tickets available as of 30 minutes ago (1:15) so those Tiger fans in the Houston area that do not get a chance to see LSU in action a lot this is a great opportunity. The Fetitta Center is brand new and truly a great little arena.

Half
LSU 31 Houston 29

Final
LSU 72
Houston 66

This game will also have a lot of LA connections, as two Houston assistant coaches were stars at St.Aug in New Orleans in Hollis Price and Quannas White. While Corey Davis is from Lafayette, LA Dejon Jarreua and Brison Grisham both played at McDonough 35 and are from New Orleans.

Good luck to the Tigers and all those making the trip and attending!