Tiger Basketball Team hosts “Boo Up!” Exhibition vs. Loyola (NO) Tuesday at 7 p.m. – LSU

BATON ROUGE – Final preparation for the start of the 2024-25 LSU men's basketball season will take place Tuesday night at 7 p.m. CT at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center when the Tigers take on Loyola (New Orleans).

Admission to the game is free and there will be numerous events as LSU hosts a pre-Halloween event for fans.

It's “Boo Up” night with free candy for kids, a pumpkin decorating contest, a costume contest and pre-game activities outside the Maravich Center.

It's also the first Beat The Buzzer Tuesday Happy Hour with discounted food and drink purchases before every Tuesday home basketball game at the Assembly Center. The Beat The Buzzer promotion begins when doors open one hour before Tuesday's home games and continues until 10 minutes before kickoff.

Specials include Tiger Dogs for $2.50, Nachos for $2.75, Tiger Burgers (not Burger Kitchen Burgers) for $4, an 85-ounce bag of popcorn for $2.50 and a 32-ounce souvenir -Soda for $3.50. Happy Hour also includes select beers for just $5.25.

Excluded from the promotion are: Papa John's, Chick-Fil-A, Cajun Classic, Louisiana Creole Creations, Leroy's Lemonade, Dippin' Dots and Posh Pop.

Tuesday's game will be broadcast on affiliate LSU Sports Radio Network with the “Voice of the Tigers” Chris Blair and former LSU head coach John Brady. The pair will also be simulcast on the SEC Network+ streaming broadcast.

“We are very excited to begin our exhibition game on Tuesday night,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “I know the players are looking forward to playing against someone else. I think the coaches are excited to see us play against someone else. I know it's been a very competitive fall camp, but we're excited to face the outside competition. In fact, for half of our squad this is their first opportunity to play here in front of our students and our home fans.

“I know they have a lot of things planned for the community,” Coach McMahon said. “There will be a Halloween theme for the game and free admission for all the children here in Baton Rouge. That’s why we would like to invite everyone to have a great time on Tuesday evening at the PMAC.”

LSU and Loyola have a long history of regular-season basketball games, although the last regular-season game was played in 1972, when the athletic program at the New Orleans school was discontinued that year.

The Wolf Pack program was revived in the 1991-92 season and approximately 30 years later, in 2022, the Wolf Pack won the NAIA National Championship. The team also won the 1945 NAIA championship and appeared in the NCAA Division I basketball tournament three times in the 1950s.

Loyola opened its season last Thursday with an 89-71 win over Southern-New Orleans. Alex Hammond led the Wolf Pack with 17 points and seven assists, while Zachary Lee (9 rebounds) and Leonard Jackson each had 13 points, Milan Mejia 12 and Kosta Bjelicic 11 points. Loyola had 20 second chance points against SUNO and 25 points on turnovers.

Loyola is coached by Donald Reyes in his third year as head coach. Reyes was a former LSU executive under current LSU radio analyst John Brady.

The Tigers are working toward their season opener on Nov. 6 against ULM at the Maravich Center to officially begin the third year of the McMahon era at LSU. LSU was 17-16, 9-9 in the SEC a year ago and returned to the postseason with an appearance in the NIT.

LSU will look to be more successful in November and December as they lost five non-conference games. The Tigers will play two home games in the first week of the season and, as mentioned, host ULM against Alabama State on November 6th and 10th.

LSU returns players like Jalen Reed, Mike Williams III, Derek Fountain, Daimion Collins and Tyrell Ward, and three players from the transfer portal join them – UT Martin's Jordan Sears, Richmond's Dji Bailey and Kansas State's Cam Carter.

The Tigers have three top-65 high school recruits in Vyctorius Miller, Curtis Givens and Robert Miller, as well as junior college transfer Noah Boyde and redshirt freshman Corey Chest from New Orleans, who are making their first appearances this season becomes. Boyde has yet to be fit to play following offseason surgery.

“I really like the character of our group and the coaching ability,” Coach McMahon said. “I think that allowed us to really build a real team chemistry and culture in the locker room. It was fun coaching the group. Obviously we're undefeated and haven't played a game yet, but it's been a lot of fun because I think we have competitive guys that come to work every day and want to do whatever they can to help our team win, so it was a big one Joy to be here.”

Ticket information for season tickets, non-conference single-game tickets and mini-plans can be found at LSUTIx.net.