The Southeastern Louisiana Lions and the LSU Tigers meet Friday in college basketball action from Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Southeastern LA is 2-5 overall and just snapped a five-game losing streak with a win over Southern-New Orleans. As for 4-3 LSU, they had a three-game win streak snapped by Syracuse in their last outing. Let’s get into our Southeastern Louisiana vs. LSU prediction. 

Southeastern LA Lions

Southeastern Louisiana kicked off the season with a nice 90-71 win over Delta State, but then quickly hit the skids. The Lions would fall to Auburn, BYU, Santa Clara, Western Michigan, and Tennessee State in succession over the next five outings. The Lions hit 48.1 percent from the field in their loss to Tennessee State but scored just 29 points in the second half. 

In their latest matchup versus Southern-New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana finally got back into the win column. The Lions were up 50-28 by the break and got even better from there with 51 more points in a 101-55 result. Nick Caldwell was tops on the team with 23 points, six rebounds and four steals. 

LSU Tigers 

Over on the LSU side, it’s been a pretty choppy season so far. The Tigers started out at 1-2 with losses to Nicholls and Dayton but then hit a three-game win streak versus North Texas, Wake Forest, and North Florida. Matched up against the Ospreys, LSU posted 46.0 percent shooting overall with 42 rebounds but hit just four of 14 from outside (28.6 percent). 

LSU wasn’t able to keep their run going versus Syracuse. The Tigers were within five points at the break, however a 47-29 deficit in the second half buried the team in an 80-57 outcome. The only double-digit scorers on the team were Jordan Wright (15 points) and Jalen Reed (15 points; 11 rebounds). 

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA VS LSU PREDICTION 

I’ll lean toward LSU, but I’m probably staying away. The Tigers are due for a bounce-back effort in this one after a tough game against Syracuse. LSU hit 39.3 percent from the field in that loss, including an ugly 2-of-22 (9.1 percent) from 3-point range alongside a whopping 19 turnovers. It was a pretty sloppy game overall, but the good news is that LSU will match up much better here. 

As for Southeastern LA, they’ve hit 67 or more points in five of their seven games this year, so they can score in the right matchup. The Lions will be able to keep pace if LSU is cold from 3-point range again, but the Tigers’ physicality will likely win out in the end cover-wise.