I live in the skillet. I talk to it.

AHH-HOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEE! We got something hot simmering on the stove for dinner tonight! LSU brings their southern flavor to Hec Ed. It's a classic battle of purple an gold versus, um... purple and gold!

LSU has an interesting team, led by one of my favorite non-UW players Glen "Big Baby" Davis, who's currently putting up 20 and 10 per game. Tyrus Thomas is the only significant player they lost from last years team that made a fantastic run in the NCAA tournament. They are athletic, and pride themselves on defense. Their biggest weakness is depth. In many of their last few games, they have gone with essentially a 6 man rotation, only looking to play 7th man Rolle against weaker competition or when the other teams size demands another big on the court.

This game will be a battle of pace, with UW wanting to push the ball, while LSU will try to slow the game down, and take advantage of their dominant post player Davis. LSU has been on the road for at least a week, traveling to Oregon State before they came up to Seattle, and they may be weary. A fast paced game could equate dumb fouls and mistakes for the Tigers.

Key Matchups:
Big Baby versus Brockman

UW needs Brockman to guard Big Baby. He is the only one besides Artem Wallace on the UW roster with enough strength to contend with Davis' strength in the post. I would rather see Hawes on the weak side, coming to provide help in the form of blocked shots, but also to keep himself from tiring out on the defensive end. If Brockman gets into early foul trouble, the Huskies may be in trouble.

Hawes versus Lazare/Rolle

LSU doesn't really have a good matchup to take on Hawes. He has a height advantage against all their post defenders, and if need be, will be able to shoot his bankshot jumpers and hook shots undeterred. Hawes needs to not only win, but dominate this matchup. Brockman will provide almost no offense tonight, so Hawes needs to be the post presence. LSU really only has 3 reliable bigs and Big Baby is not the best at running the floor. If Hawes can force one of Lazare or Rolle into foul trouble early, UW's should be able to rebound at will and get the fast break started.

Pondexter versus Tasmin Mitchell

Two very similar players here. I have no idea who does better.

UW's perimeter versus Mason, Temple and Minor

Dentmon has been inconsistent the last six games and needs to play well tonight. While UW could conceivably out play LSU in the post, UW must out play LSU's guards. We have too much depth and skill at those positions not to. LSU only plays three guards. Foul trouble for any of them would get LSU in big trouble.

I'm pretty sure that UW will pull out a win tonight. Either the refs will call a tight game, and LSU will have to deal with foul trouble, or we'll see a loosely called affair like the Gonzaga game, which will allow UW to run and tire out LSU. Either way, it looks like a win for UW. Final score UW 84, LSU 72.