Tenn-Martin @ Louisiana State preview

Tenn-Martin at Louisiana State

Last Meeting ( Nov 18, 2010 ) Tenn-Martin 56, Louisiana State 79

LSU has a lot of work to do to get ready for Southeastern Conference play, and a night such as Wednesday is the time to get started. Coming off a stretch of tough competition at last week’s Maui Invitational, the Tigers look to tune up when they host Tennessee Martin on Wednesday.

It’s the Tigers’ last game until Dec. 10, and first-year coach Will Wade says it’s important for his team to head into the layoff on a high note. “We need to get better,” Wade told reporters. “We need to leave on a good foot here before we head off into exam break. Really we have six home games here, one at a time. We need to really improve as a team. Get our defense better.” It’s the second trip to Baton Rouge, La. in a week for the Skyhawks, who suffered a 69-66 loss at Southern last Wednesday. UT Martin has dropped three straight overall, including a 65-55 home decision to UMKC on Sunday.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, SEC Network Plus

ABOUT UT MARTIN (1-5): The Skyhawks have used five different starting lineups and had five different leading scorers in their first six games. Senior guard Matthew Butler (15.5 points) is the only player who has started all six contests, and he and Fatodd Lewis (12.3, 7.5 rebounds) are the team’s only double-digit scorers. Lewis really has come on strong in the last two games, pouring in a career-high 25 points versus Southern before grabbing a personal-best 13 rebounds against UMKC.

ABOUT LSU (3-2): The Tigers are a work in progress at the defensive end – they give up 81.2 points per game and allow opponents to shoot 48.3 percent, ranking near the bottom nationally in both categories. They do have some serious offensive prowess, however, and were in the top 10 in the country in field-goal percentage (53.2 percent) through Monday. Freshman Tremont Waters (20 points, 5.2 assists) leads a quartet of double-digit scorers and is 15-for-30 from 3-point range.

TIP-INS

1. The team that has led at halftime has won all five of LSU’s games this season.

2. Opponents shoot 38.6 percent from beyond the arc against LSU, which allows 10.2 3-pointers per contest.

3. UT Martin is 1-39 all-time against current SEC members, including an 0-4 mark versus LSU.

PREDICTION: LSU 93, UT Martin 77