Who was the star of the night for LSU athletics on Friday? Was it Flau'jae Johnson, who led the women's basketball team to a 30-point blowout of Auburn in the SEC Tournament? Was it pitcher Luke Holman, who had another gem of a start against Xavier (Ohio)? How about gymnast Haleigh Bryant, who had not one but two perfect 10s as LSU rolled to one of its best scores ever? It's a tough choice. Probably left up to personal preference. We'll start with Flau'jae and women's basketball, considering that those Tigers are in the postseason. She had 25 points as LSU romped past Auburn 78-48, a team that forced LSU into splitting a pair of bruising five-point games in the regular season. LSU is off to Saturday's SEC semifinals to face Ole Miss, but there is some question about the health of star forward Angel Reese and her ankle. Read on to find out the latest. Holman has done an amazing job stepping into the staff ace cleats left by Paul Skenes from last year's team. He hasn't allowed a run yet as a Tiger and Friday night he didn't allow a hit in six innings before leaving in a 4-0 LSU victory. Bryant has been simply stunning all season and Friday in the Purple and Gold Classic at the Raising Canes River Center was perhaps the best chapter yet. She broke her own school record in the all-around and helped LSU post a 198.425 team score, its best road score ever. Yes, competing at the River Center counts as a road score. College gymnastics is a funny game, sometimes. The meet was not televised, but we've got a photo gallery to show you from Friday's action. Softball also wants to put in a pitch (Pitch? Softball? Get it? I'll move on.) for one of its stars, Sydney Berzon. She was great in the circle once again as those Tigers ran their record to 20-0 with an SEC-opening 6-2 win at Kentucky. The men's basketball team wraps up its regular season at home Saturday night against Missouri. The LSU Tigers are looking to finish at .500 in conference play after winning just two SEC contests last season, major progress under Matt McMahon in year two. Mizzouri, 0-17 in the SEC, just wants a win. Tip is 7:30 in the PMAC. Finally, the LSU women's track and field had four athletes qualify for finals at the NCAA indoor championships in Boston. Read all about it here. Well, that's a lot for you to browse through after a very successful sports Friday for LSU. To find out how the Tigers do this weekend, follow all of our comprehensive coverage at TheAdvocate.com and NOLA.com, in The Advocate and in The Times-Picayune. Have a great weekend, everyone, Scott Rabalais |