LSU is likely to be without its leading scorer against Kentucky

Going into conference play, LSU held a 12-1 record and looked like a real potential threat in the SEC. The Tigers have since dropped all three league games, including one at home to a bad South Carolina team, scoring an average of just 71 points per game. That dropoff in play coincided with Dedan Thomas Jr., who leads LSU in scoring (16.2 PPG), being removed from the lineup.

Thomas suffered a lower leg injury the day before the SEC schedule kicked off, a re-aggravation of an issue he dealt with in the past. That was nearly two weeks ago now, and it doesn’t sound like the talented 6-foot-1 guard, who also leads the SEC in assists (7.1 per game), will suit up for Wednesday night’s home game against Kentucky.

“Making great progress. Don’t have a status report for the game tomorrow yet. We’ll see how he is in practice today,” LSU head coach Matt McMahon said Tuesday, adding that Thomas has not returned to practice. “It’s a day-to-day injury, he’s making tremendous progress.”

Later that night, Thomas was officially listed as doubtful on the SEC’s Availability Report. Barring an unexpected improvement in his injury throughout Wednesday, he’ll be watching his team from the bench. Thomas has been the straw that stirs LSU’s offense. That’s good news for Kentucky, which just lost its starting point guard, Jaland Lowe, earlier this week to season-ending surgery.

“Not unlike our situation, Dedan (Thomas) makes them a way different team,” Kentucky head coach Mark Pope said Monday. “In high major games, his ballscreen, ball handler points per possession is like a 1.23 points per possession on 30 possessions. That’s incredible. That’s a number that just reaches out and grabs you. He’s also incredibly effective hitting the role. He’s a problem.”

With Thomas on the mend, McMahon has turned the keys over to freshman guard Jalen Reece, who has filled in as the starting point guard for LSU’s last three games. It’s been an experiment, to say the least. Reece has averaged four points, five assists, and 2.3 turnovers in 32.3 minutes per outing, shooting 22.7 percent overall from the floor. According to CBB Analytics, when Thomas is playing with the rest of LSU’s starting lineup, the Tigers are +107 in 134 minutes played. When Thomas is replaced by Reece, that number dips to -16 in 38 minutes.

At the same time, Thomas’ absence has opened up more room for senior guard Max Mackinnon, who has averaged 20.7 points on shooting splits of 45.8/43.5/100 over his last three games. He dropped 27 points against Vanderbilt on 9-16 shooting over the weekend.

“When Reece is playing, it seems like Max is taking way more of the load,” Pope said. “He’s averaging over 20 points a game in conference, which is really incredible.”

Kentucky is going through its own roster retooling right now with Lowe out for good and Jayden Quaintance sitting out his second game in a row, not to mention the additions of Kam Williams and Andrija Jelavić to the starting lineup. But Thomas is clearly LSU’s most impactful player — that should give the Wildcats an edge going into tonight’s matchup.