EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was updated following the announcement by Coach McMahon at his radio show and the release of the SEC Availability Report.
BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers play their first SEC home game of the 2026 season on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Tickets for the contest are available online at LSUTix.net and beginning one hour prior to tipoff at the upper concourse ticket windows of the Maravich Center. LSU students are admitted free of charge with valid LSU ID. There are also Student For A Game tickets for the student section available for $10.
The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Lowell Galindo and Pat Bradley on the call. As always, the game will be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network with the Voice of the Tigers, Chris Blair, joined by former LSU men’s basketball coach John Brady. The Baton Rouge flagship affiliate is Guaranty Media station, Eagle 98.1 FM.
The Tigers are 12-2 and 0-1 in the league after a 75-72 loss at Texas A&M on Saturday. South Carolina is 9-5 and 0-1 in the SEC after their 83-71 loss at home to Vanderbilt.
LSU gave a good account of itself without point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., against A&M as freshman point guard Jalen Reece stepped into the starting position and had seven assists, while Max Mackinnon had five more assists.
Mike Nwoko continued his strong play with the second consecutive 20-point game, the first time in his career he has scored 20-plus in back-to-back games. He had 22 against Southern Miss (12/29) and followed with 21 against A&M (1/3). Mackinnon added another 20 points to the Tigers total and Rashad King had a solid 10 points.
Pablo Tamba also made it a back-to-back as he pulled down 11 rebounds, his second consecutive game with double figure rebounds.
When the SEC availiability report came out Monday evening, Coach Matt McMahon announced on his radio show that Thomas will miss Tuesday’s game.
“DJ will be out,” Coach McMahon told show host Chris Blair, “He’s still listed as day-to-day. He’s making great progress. It’s a lower leg injury that he had several years ago that he’s reaggravated. No one wants to play more than DJ Thomas; I can assure you … He’s anxious to get back with us and he’s progressing well in his rehab.”
Elijah Strong had 17 points with Myles Stute getting 14 and Mike Sharavjamts 13 for the Gamecocks in their loss to nationally-ranked and undefeated Vanderbilt. Carolina shot 43.1 percent for the game (25-of-58) with seven three points and 14-of-18 from the free throw line.
For the season, Meechie Johnson is the leading average scorer at 13.8 points a contest with Sharavjamts at 11.9 points, Strong at 10.3 and Eli Ellis at 10.1 points a game. The Gamecocks average 80.3 points a game.
Nwoko has moved into the top spot on the team in scoring at 16.4 points a game, shooting 71.1 percent from the floor (1st in the SEC, 3rd in the NCAA). Thomas is at 16.2 points per game and a league topping 92 assists, with Max Mackinnon scoring at a 13.5 points per game pace and Marquel Sutton the fourth leading scorer on the team at 13.4.
The Tigers after Tuesday night will travel to Nashville for a Noon game on Saturday with nationally-ranked Vanderbilt at Memorial Gymnasium. LSU’s is back at home on Wednesday, Jan. 14, to take on Kentucky.
