New Orleans @ Louisiana State preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 19, 2013 ) New Orleans 54, Louisiana State 81

A pair of two-point losses mark the lone blemishes on LSU's resume, and the team is looking to continue building momentum as it creeps toward SEC play. The Tigers will try to push their winning streak to three in a row when they host in-state foe New Orleans on Tuesday.

LSU basketball is flying under the radar on campus with the football team heading toward the College Football Playoff and preparing for the SEC championship game but is steadily improving and is coming off an impressive 73-58 triumph over Missouri State on Friday. "I think we're jelling better," Tigers forward Darius Days told reporters. "Everyone is starting to play their role. Everyone's doing their role to the best of their abilities and we're playing a lot better as a team." Friday's triumph marked the best defensive performance of the young season for LSU, which will not play another true road game until tipping off SEC play at Tennessee on Jan. 4. The Privateers have yet to beat a Division I opponent but are coming off a pair of convincing wins over Division III foe Eureka and NAIA Xavier (LA).

TV: 9 p.m. ET, SEC Network

ABOUT NEW ORLEANS (3-4): The Privateers, who own a loss over an SEC opponent already with an 82-59 setback at Mississippi State on the resume, spent the weekend blasting Eureka 125-60 and cruising past crosstown foe Xavier 79-62. Senior guard Bryson Robinson (14.1 points) leads the team in scoring but the pair of games against lower-division opponents allowed New Orleans to give shots and minutes to other players, and forward Jaylen Key stepped up. Key averaged 3.4 points in the first five games but recorded a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds against Eureka and went for a season-high 17 points against Xavier (LA).

ABOUT LSU (5-2): The Tigers are stacked in the frontcourt with forwards Days and Emmitt Williams, who combine to average 29.3 points and 15.6 rebounds, and Days took charge with 20 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Missouri State. "Oh Mr. 20/10? That's my boy right there," Williams, who went for 27 points in a 96-83 win over Rhode Island on Nov. 24, told reporters. "Darius has been phenomenal this year. We've been coming in and watching film, getting up a lot of shots together. We're more focused this year. That's a guy that can come in and I can get some work in with, he's someone I can always depend on. On the defensive end he's someone that just gets to the ball, as you can see my boy had 10 rebounds." The two forwards sit behind guard Skylar Mays (17.4 points) on the team scoring list, and Mays scored in double figures in each of the last three games.

TIP-INS

1. Days recorded a double-double in three of the last five games.

2. Privateers G Troy Green is shooting 94.4 percent from the free-throw line.

3. The Tigers are seeing the Privateers for the first time since Nov. 19, 2013, when they cruised to an 81-54 home win.

PREDICTION: LSU 87, New Orleans 61