Who's Playing

Northwestern State Demons @ LSU Tigers

Current Records: Northwestern State 3-4, LSU 5-1

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What to Know

Northwestern State has enjoyed a three-game homestand but will soon have to dust off their road jerseys. They will square off against the LSU Tigers at 8:00 p.m. ET on Friday at Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Demons pulled off an upset win in their last outing, and are hoping to pull that off once more against the 20.5-point favorite Tigers.

Last Sunday, Northwestern State was able to grind out a solid victory over N. Alabama, taking the game 71-58.

Northwestern State was working as a unit and finished the game with 21 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as N. Alabama only posted eight.

Meanwhile, winning is always nice, but doing so behind a season-high score is even better (just ask LSU). They walked away with a 109-102 win over UCF on Sunday. The victory was all the more spectacular given the Tigers were down by 20 with 2:12 left in the first half.

Jalen Reed and Jordan Sears were among the main playmakers for LSU as the former dropped a double-double on 21 points and 13 rebounds and the latter almost dropped a double-double on 25 points and nine rebounds. What's more, Reed also racked up four assists, the most he's had since back in November of 2023. Another player making a difference was Dji Bailey, who scored 14 points along with six assists and five rebounds.

Northwestern State's win bumped their record up to 3-4. As for LSU, their victory bumped their record up to 5-1.

Rebounding is likely to be a big factor in this contest: Northwestern State has crashing the boards this season, having averaged 37.3 rebounds per game. However, it's not like LSU struggles in that department as they've been averaging 42.3. With both teams battling to corral missed shots, we'll see if one team can grab an edge.

Northwestern State took a serious blow against LSU in their previous matchup back in December of 2023, falling 96-55. That match was pretty much over by halftime, at which point Northwestern State was down 47-21.

Odds

LSU is a big 20.5-point favorite against Northwestern State, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers were right in line with the betting community on this one, as the game opened as a 20.5-point spread, and stayed right there.


The over/under is 142.5 points.

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Series History

LSU has won all of the games they've played against Northwestern State in the last 5 years.

  • Dec 29, 2023 - LSU 96 vs. Northwestern State 55
  • Dec 14, 2021 - LSU 89 vs. Northwestern State 49
  • Dec 08, 2019 - LSU 109 vs. Northwestern State 59