TV: ESPN, 7 PM CT
Radio: KVET (1300 AM)

Just nine months ago, LSU ended Texas’ season in an overtime battle at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Just hours later, I had decided to attend every game in the 2006-07 season. Just a few months later we had said goodbye to LaMarcus Aldridge, P.J. Tucker, Daniel Gibson, and Mike Williams. And that’s why tonight’s game just doesn’t feel like much of a rematch to me.

For #11 LSU (5-1), it’s the second “rematch” in only a week with a team they defeated in their Final Four run, having re-defeated A&M on Tuesday night. But while Texas (5-2) looks like a completely different team this season, the Tigers return three starters from last year’s squad and have Tack Minor back from the injury that limited him to only three games in 2005. The most notable guy coming back is Glen “Big Baby” Davis. But Big Baby isn’t quite so big this time around. He has reportedly shed over 50 pounds and is much more agile under the basket. His free throw shooting is still only in the 70-percent range, but otherwise I fully expect him to absolutely abuse the Horns all night long.

Tasmin Mitchell and Garrett Temple also return to LSU’s starting lineup, following up on their outstanding freshman seasons. While Mitchell primarily plays on the wing, he will occassionally move down low so that Davis can move to small forward. Temple is very good for a sophomore point guard, running the game well and keeping his turnovers low. In fact, he hasn’t even turned the ball over in the last two games. He can also shoot, hitting his threes at a 36% clip.

Senior forward Darnell Lazare missed the A&M game with an injury, but is expected to start tonight against Texas. He is shooting 70% so far this year to follow up on his 49% shooting last season. If Lazare is unable to play due to his injury, we can expect to see a lot more of Magnum Rolle, who started in his place against A&M.

This is going to get old really quickly this season, but my key points are going to seem to be the exact same every time. LSU is a lot bigger than us and brings in a lot more experience. They outrebounded a very physical Aggie team by eleven in Tuesday night’s game. Although A&M’s big men were in foul trouble for much of the game, I don’t really expect the Longhorns to have much more success against LSU’s great front line. LSU will score the bulk of their points against our weak interior defense, particularly when the less-experienced Matt Hill and Connor Atchley are in the game.

Texas can shoot the three much better than LSU, although the Tigers are a hot-and-cold team so far this year from behind the arc. They have hit 42 percent of their threes on the year, but have alternated between great shooting nights (58% against Nicholls State) and abysmal ones (22% in the loss to Wichita State). Taking these last two points to heart, Coach Barnes will likely run a 2-3 zone for most of the night in an attempt to deny the entry pass to LSU’s big men. And if LSU happens to be on one of its “off” nights from behind the arc, the Longhorns should be able to maintain that defensive scheme for most of the game.

If you’re looking for a way to beat the Tigers, the Shockers used a lot of back door cuts to exploit LSU’s weakness. They certainly didn’t make them pay behind the arc, as WSU was even worse than the Tigers in that game, shooting 2-for-14 from three-point range. This isn’t to say that Texas can’t win by doing the exact opposite — that is, hitting threes and not exploiting the back door cut — but I’m not holding out much hope.

Personally, I think this is going to be an important game for our big guys down low. So far they are soft and look like they are going to be picked on all season. Hopefully getting pounded tonight will wake them up and prepare them for what they are going to see from most of the physical Big 12 teams.

Keep an eye on D.J. Augustin, to see how he will bounce back from his really rough game against Gonzaga. It’ll be important for him to keep those turnovers down and to limit the dumb fouls he is very fond of picking up. Our big men are going to be picking up their share of fouls in this contest, so we don’t need our guards adding to the team foul totals and putting LSU in the bonus before the under-sixteen TV timeout.

A.J. Abrams also had an incredibly frustrating game against the Zags, going absolutely cold from the field. I fully expect him to still come out firing tonight. If he’s shooting well and Durant is providing his usual 20-plus point night, Texas should hang in the game for a while before LSU’s inside strength and experience allow them to pull away.

Hopefully I’m wrong. Hopefully the Longhorns don’t get killed on the glass, on second-chance points, and in the paint. But hopefully you can find solace in the many shots that ESPN should show of LSU’s delicious Golden Girls. And if for some reason ESPN lets you down on that front, I leave you with a video of the Golden Girls to ease the pain. God bless you, YouTube.