New on Sports Illustrated: LSU looks to rebound vs. SE Louisiana

LSU has given up a lot of points in its first two games of the season. Southeastern Louisiana has had a hard time scoring points in its first two games.

One of those trends will change when the Tigers (1-1) and Lions (0-2) meet Monday night in Baton Rouge, La.

LSU won its opener against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, 94-81, then lost to Saint Louis, 85-81.

"It's kind of the same old story," Tigers coach Will Wade said. "Our defense and rebounding has got to improve. We're going to keep working at it until we get it right."

LSU's first two opponents shot a combined 53.1 percent on field goals and 45.1 percent on 3-pointers.

"We've obviously got some work to do," Wade said. "We'll get it fixed. If we're going to be the team we want to be, we've got to dig in and be a little bit better defensively and be better on the glass."

The Tigers have shot the ball well themselves, making 52.7 percent of their field goals and 42 percent of their 3-pointers.

Freshman Cam Thomas scored 27 and 25 points in his first two college games.

The Lions shot 30.3 percent and made just one of 28 3-pointers in a 67-63 overtime loss at Purdue Fort Wayne in their season opener. They shot 39.7 percent and 4 of 21 from 3-point range in an 84-59 loss to Alabama-Birmingham on Saturday.

"I think this team is extremely focused," Nick Caldwell, who leads Southeastern Louisiana in scoring (11.5 ppg). "It's going to be a tough month but I think it will test the entire team's toughness and make us better when we start conference."

Southeastern will be playing the third game in a 10-game road trip to start the season, the longest road trip in program history.

"It's going to be tough," guard Byron Smith said. "The key is just staying focused, watching a lot of film and understanding that preparation for each game is the same no matter where we play."

The road trip will prepare the Lions for their first home game, which is their Southland Conference opener against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Jan. 2.

"This is a very motivated team that brings the best out of each other," Smith said. "We are all in it for the main goal which is to compete for a conference title."

--Field Level Media