3/21/2021

No. 8 seed LSU and No. 1 seed Michigan will meet in an NCAA East Regional second-round game Monday night on the Unity court at Lucas Oil Stadium for the right to go to the Sweet 16 Monday night. 

Tipoff will be 6:10 p.m. CT on CBS with Andrew Catalon, Steve Lappas and reporter AJ Ross on the call with the “Voice” of the Tigers Chris Blair and former coach John Brady in the building for the call on the LSU Sports Radio Network (Baton Rouge flagship Guaranty Media on Eagle 98.1 FM). 

LSU is 19-9 and will be looking for a 20-win season for the third consecutive year with wins in seven-of-the-last-10 games, while Michigan is 21-4 overall. The Wolverines are 8-3 in the 11 games since a five-game postponement for COVID issues Jan. 27 through Feb. 11. Michigan is ranked No. 4 in the country in the AP media poll. 

Michigan in the opening round of the tournament defeated Texas Southern, coached by LSU alum and former Tiger head coach Johnny Jones, 82-66. Four players scored in double figures – Mike Smith 18 (5 assists, two treys), Hunter Dickinson 16 (6-7 from field), and, Brandon Johns Jr and Eli Brooks 11 each. Brooks had five assists. 

The Wolverines out rebounded TSU, 38-28, and shot 48.1 percent from the field (26-54) with nine treys and 21-of-26 from the line. TSU outscored Michigan in the paint, 42-30.

LSU won its opening round game on Saturday, 76-61, against nine-seed St. Bonaventure. The Tigers overcame a slow start to move to a 31-22 halftime advantage and then was able to get a big lead and put the game at a place where the Bonnies could not answer back. 

LSU had three players with double doubles in the game and freshman Cameron Thomas posted 27 points with two treys and 11-of-13 at the free throw line. Aundre Hyatt had career numbers in both points and rebounds getting 13 points and 10 boards, while Darius Days had his eight double of the year with 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Trendon Watford had 11 points and 11 boards.

Hyatt had seven offensive rebounds in the game. 

The Tigers and Michigan have met three times, with Michigan winning twice. The teams met in a mid-1990s home-and-neutral series in Baton Rouge and Auburn Hills, Michigan. LSU won the last meeting in 2017 in Maui, 77-75. 

Dickinson leads the Wolverines in scoring at 14.3 points and 7.4 rebounds a game. Franz Wager is at 12.7 points. Michigan has been without Isaiah Livers, who averaged 13.1 points in 23 games before suffering a stress fracture in his right foot.

Thomas averages 22.8 points per game to lead the Tigers, including a nation’s leading 187 made free throws with Trendon Watford at 16.5 points, Smart at 15.6 points and Days 11.8 points a game. While Hyatt is only averaging 4.3 points for the season, he has scored 21 points in the last two games with 18 rebounds. 

COURTESY LSU ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS