Simmons sees pressure for both teams in UK-LSU game

Heralded LSU freshman Ben Simmons anticipates plenty of pressure for both teams in Saturday’s Kentucky-LSU game. But he downplayed the notion of a spotlight matchup with Skal Labissiere, once UK’s most ballyhooed freshman.

“There’s always going to be pressure for them,” he said of the Cats on Thursday. “Because they’re Kentucky and they’re expected to win. Obviously, we beat them at the start of the (Southeastern Conference) season. They want that revenge.

“There’s also pressure on us, too. We don’t think we should be considered one of the lower teams. So we have a point to prove.”

Going into the final weekend of the regular season, Kentucky is tied with Texas A&M for first place in the SEC with 12-5 records. LSU and Vanderbilt are a game behind at 11-6. South Carolina had a chance to improve to 12-6 by beating Georgia on Thursday night.

When the season began, Simmons and Labissiere were widely projected as the two best freshmen in the country and the likely first two picks in the 2016 NBA Draft.

It’s not farfetched to believe CBS chose to televise this UK-LSU game because Simmons and Labissiere served as good promotion for its coverage of the NCAA Tournament.

“I have nothing to prove to him,” said Simmons, who has recoiled from questions about personal duels. “I mean, I’m ready to play against that team. They have a lot of talented guys. Jamal Murray. (Tyler) Ulis. Isaiah (Briscoe). It’s not one guy I’m focusing on.”

As Labissiere has needed time to adjust, so, too, has LSU as a team. LSU was ranked in the preseason and the first two top 25 polls of the season. But the Tigers haven’t been ranked since late November and bring an 18-12 record to Rupp Arena.

Simmons also downplayed the idea that LSU’s hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid rest with beating Kentucky. Much has been made of the possibility of Simmons being the No. 1 pick in the NBA despite not leading his team to an NCAA Tournament.

Simmons, a native of Australia, said he did not grow up dreaming of playing in the NCAA Tournament. “I never knew of the NCAA Tournament till I came over here to America,” he said. “So, now, that I’ve gotten to college, of course, I want to play in it.”

On a teleconference, ESPN analyst Dick Vitale put the onus of LSU receiving an NCAA Tournament bid squarely on Simmons.

“He’s got to carry them on his shoulders in the big moment,” Vitale said.

Vitale recalled working LSU’s near-upset of then-No. 1 Oklahoma. Simmons did not take a shot in the game’s final minutes.

“To me, you’re the No. 1 player in the country, man,” Vitale said. “You’ve got to demand the ball.”

Such a moment is Saturday when LSU plays at Kentucky, a team tied for first place in the Southeastern Conference and the team with the league’s best Ratings Percentage Index (No. 11).

As of Thursday, ESPN “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi did not have LSU in his bracket nor in the so-called first four out. He had the Tigers in the next-four-out category.

When asked about the chances of LSU playing in the NCAA Tournament, Vitale said, “What they’ve got to do is right in front of them. . . . They’ve got to do what no one has done. No one has beaten Kentucky at Rupp. Well, they have a date with Kentucky at Rupp this weekend.”

Two factors work against the possibility of an upset. LSU is not expected to have guard Keith Hornsby, its most reliable perimeter shooter and arguably most competitive player.

And Kentucky has won 36 straight home games, the second-longest streak in Rupp Arena’s 40-season history.

Then again, Simmons’ combination of size and skill makes him an X-factor.

“They’re dangerous,” Vitale said of the Tigers. “Anytime you go on the floor with a kid like Simmons, he’s capable of going off for a big, big game.”

If LSU loses, a bid is still possible with two victories in next week’s SEC Tournament, Vitale said.

And if LSU beats Kentucky?

“I really believe if they can apply the Rocky Marciano knockout punch Saturday and win, I think they’re in the tournament,” Vitale said. “I really do.”

Guarded optimism

Vitale joined the consensus view that guard play will dictate Kentucky’s fate in the NCAA Tournament. UK has the “premier backcourt in America” in Tyler Ulis and Jamal Murray.

“That duo, to me, is as good as you’ll find in the nation. So now, if you get help up front with (Derek) Willis and if (Alex) Poythress can give them positive minutes . . . they are a dangerous team.”

As for Kentucky’s front court, Vitale said, “their up-and-down play in the interior has been a nightmare for them.”

The inconsistency has impacted the UK guards, he said.

“The pressure to perform and score on the perimeter players is unbelievable.”

This story was originally published March 3, 2016 at 7:26 PM with the headline "Simmons sees pressure for both teams in UK-LSU game."