| If you follow LSU gymnastics, you can't help but remember the Tigers' home meet with Kentucky last March. A meet LSU basically lost because a Kentucky gymnast came off the balance beam so badly she knocked off the end cap with her foot. That resulted in a ruling of equipment failure, which resulted in a do-over, which resulted in UK beating LSU by a fraction of a point. LSU coach Jay Clark no doubt would have taken such another freakish defeat over what happened to his Tigers on Friday night at Kentucky. This time, LSU's problems had nothing to do with Kentucky or equipment. The Tigers were laid low by injuries to two gymnasts, most notably senior All-American Kiya Johnson. Johnson went down with a leg injury on the last pass of her floor routine. She later appeared smiling and high-fiving teammates as the Tigers finished on beam, but Clark said preliminary indications are that one of LSU's top two gymnasts is done for the season. Freshman Bryce Wilson also missed the beam on a tumbling pass, hit her head on the mat adjacent to the beam and wound up in concussion protocol. LSU lost the meet 197.125-196.575 to fall to 0-2 and 0-1 in SEC competition. And things just get tougher for the Tigers, who host No. 1 Oklahoma in their home opener at 2 p.m. Monday in a rare matinee meet on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Speaking of things just getting tougher, the LSU men's basketball team is on the road Saturday at No. 4 Alabama. Not only is Tuscaloosa a place where the Tigers seemingly never win, but they're riding a three-game SEC losing streak after opening conference play with a win over Arkansas. This is the first of four straight ranked opponents for LSU as well. Rough. Things are looking considerably brighter for LSU women's basketball, which takes a 17-0 record and No. 5 ranking into Sunday's 2 p.m. game with Auburn. That's the game at which Seimone Augustus will be honored with her statue unveiling outside the PMAC before tipoff. The Tigers have been having their trouble with turnovers, but defense has been a major counterpoint and key to LSU's success. While talking women's basketball, check out our photos of coach Kim Mulkey helping release a bald eagle into the wild with the LSU vet school's wildlife hospital on Friday. Track is back at LSU. The Tigers opened 2023 with a strong indoor performance in the Purple Tiger at the Carl Maddox Field House, winning 10 total events. Finally, if you have a chance pick up a couple of tickets and get to the PMAC for the women's game Sunday and to help honor Augustus. if there was a Mount Rushmore of LSU athletics, she'd have to be on it, and her tribute as LSU's first female athlete to get a statue on campus — following those for Pete Maravich, Billy Cannon, Shaquille O'Neal, Skip Bertman and Bob Pettit — is richly deserved. Thanks for reading and subscribing, and have a great weekend. Scott Rabalais | 
