Tennessee-LSU Preview

2/8/2008 5:41 PM

By JEFF MEZYDLO
STATS Writer

John Brady's most recent victory of any real significance at LSU came against Tennessee. He won't have a chance for a repeat.

The struggling Tigers will host the seventh-ranked Volunteers on Saturday without Brady, who was fired as coach on Friday as he neared the end of his 10th season in Baton Rouge.

The third-winningest coach in school history, Brady went 192-139 since taking over the program from long-time coach Dale Brown in 1997-98. Brady guided the Tigers to two first-place finishes in the SEC and a trip to the 2006 Final Four when a team led by Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Tyrus Thomas went 27-9.

"I've coached in the best league in the country and I've coached a lot of great guys," an emotional Brady said during a Friday news conference. "They've done some great things that had not been done here in a long time."

The Tigers, however, have struggled of late.

With Thomas in the NBA, LSU went 17-15 in 2006-07 and is just 8-13 this season, going 1-6 in league play to sit last in the West Division. The Tigers have just six conference victories since the Final Four season.

LSU's last victory of note came over then-No. 22 Tennessee, 76-67 in overtime in the first round of last season's SEC tournament. It was the last time the Tigers beat a ranked team.

Associate head coach Butch Pierre will take over the Tigers for the remainder of the season.

LSU athletic director Skip Bertman intended to fire Brady, who has three years left on his contract, after Saturday's game against the Volunteers (20-2, 7-1), who have won four in a row and are first in the SEC East. That changed when Bertman grew concerned that word would leak to Brady or the team.

"I understand decisions are made and you have to respect the people that make those decisions," Brady said. "You don't always have to agree with them, but you can certainly respect them."

It's unsure how the Tigers will respond to the situation. LSU is coming off an 81-72 loss at Alabama last Saturday, one game after it posted its first league win with an 81-80 victory at Auburn.

Facing Tennessee won't make it easy for the Tigers, who are near the bottom of the league in scoring with 68.9 points per game. LSU has allowed 80 or more points in three of its last four contests.

The Vols average an SEC-best 85.4 points per game and won 104-82 over Florida on Tuesday.

Preseason All-American guard Chris Lofton had 26 points and went 6-for-11 from 3-point range against the Gators. Tyler Smith and JaJuan Smith each had 23 points for the Vols, who shot 13-for-29 from beyond the arc.

"I think the biggest thing with Tennessee, Lofton and JaJuan Smith make some tough shots," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "Looking at the stat sheet, you might say, 'Gosh those guys are throwing it up and getting lucky.' But they're not. They do that every game."

Lofton, the team's leader at 15.7 points per game, is starting to heat up from 3-point range after struggling with his shot most of the season. The career 42.7-percent 3-point shooter is shooting 51.9 percent (27-for-52) from beyond the arc and averaging 23.6 points in his last five games.

Lofton, however, is averaging just 9.8 points and shooting 34.2 percent from 3 in four career games versus LSU, which has won its last two home meetings with Tennessee.