Auburn @ Louisiana State preview
Pete Maravich Assembly Center
Last Meeting ( Feb 8, 2020 ) Louisiana State 90, Auburn 91
After LSU defeated then-No. 16 Tennessee on Feb. 13, it looked ahead to a game against Auburn a week later.
Then the SEC scheduled a mid-week makeup game at Ole Miss, but it was postponed twice because of the ice storm that paralyzed Mississippi and other states.
So now the focus is back on Auburn, which will face LSU in an SEC game on Saturday afternoon in Baton Rouge, La.
"It all starts with the staff," LSU coach Will Wade said of the adjustments to the schedule. "If we don't make a big deal out of it, the players aren't going to make a big deal out of it. We're just going to prepare and practice."
Wade said the preparation for Ole Miss still had value because Ole Miss and Auburn have some defensive similarities.
"They both play some zone," Wade said. "We were preparing for Ole Miss' 2-3 zone, which we hadn't seen in a while, so there is some carryover there."
LSU (13-6 overall, 8-4 in the SEC) still has two postponements that haven't been rescheduled, which means the slate could be busier than normal down the stretch.
"If we can fit in a couple games during some weeks," Wade said, "that's something that certainly would be under consideration."
Auburn's schedule featured similar changes to LSU's. After losing 82-80 at Kentucky on Feb. 13, Auburn was scheduled to host Mississippi State, but that game also was postponed twice because of the same weather conditions.
Auburn (11-11, 5-8) came from behind in the second half to tie Kentucky at 77 with less than a minute to play, but Davion Mintz made a 3-pointer to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
"If you look at how we played at the end of the game, down, we played like our hair was on fire," Auburn coach Bruce Pearl said. "That's how our teams play best. This young team has not learned that lesson yet, and the season is almost over. So, I'm very disappointed."
Auburn led by as many as nine points in the first half and had a 36-30 edge at halftime, but Kentucky scored 52 points in the second half.
"You can't give up 52 points in a half and expect to win a basketball game," Pearl said.
--Field Level Media