LSU MBB adds Kansas State to challenging non-conference slate
Per Jon Rothstein, LSU will begin a home-and-home series with Kansas State, with the first game on Dec. 9 2023 in Baton Rouge and the second game during the 2024-25 season.
The two teams played in 2022 in the Cayman Islands tournament, meeting in the championship game where Kansas State came from behind to win the game on a last-second shot. From there, the two teams had completely different seasons. Matt McMahon’s LSU team spiraled to the bottom of the SEC, while Kansas State turned into one of the stories of the college basketball season, ending the regular season 23-8 and 11-7 in the Big 12 before making a run to the Elite Eight.
The non-conference schedule so far
LSU’s non-conference schedule is beginning to come together now with Kansas State, a neutral site game against Texas in Houston, and the Charleston Classic. In addition, there will be the first SEC/ACC Challenge this season, giving LSU another high-major opponent later in the year.
The Charleston Classic will include LSU, Dayton, Houston, St. Johns, North Texas, Wake Forest, Utah, and Towson. LSU will be the only team in this field that was outside of the top 130 in Kenpom last year. Towson and LSU were the only teams outside of the top 90 at the end of the season.
This schedule gives LSU fans a fun home game vs. Kansas State, a neutral site game in Houston vs. Texas, and a high-level tournament on ESPN. After the complaints of last year’s schedule, McMahon and his staff have gone out of their way to play more competitive games in year two.
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Now, their team has to step up to the challenge. LSU has overhauled the roster with only five returning players from the 2022-23 season, but has seemingly upgraded at the guard position especially. The Tigers’ offense now has proven tools in Jalen Cook, Carlos Stewart, and Will Baker. McMahon’s team will hope to be one of the top offenses in the SEC next season.
After a 2-16 season in the SEC last year, McMahon revamped his roster and looked to build an identity with players through the transfer portal. With second-team All-SEC center KJ Williams graduating, it marked a new era for McMahon who went from Ja Morant to Williams and now finds himself at LSU looking to build a competitive group.
The remainder of the schedule has yet to be announced, but these games will likely be the highlights. Still, we’ll stay on the lookout for any news to break or tidbits for the future.
