GAME NOTES: The consolation round of the 2014 Paradise Jam features a meeting between the Weber State Wildcats and the LSU Tigers on Saturday.

LSU opened the 2014-15 campaign with consecutive home wins versus Gardner-Webb (93-82) and Texas Tech (69-64 in overtime) before dropping a 70-61 opening- round meeting against Old Dominion in this event on Friday.

As for the Wildcats, they began the season with a road loss versus in-state rival Utah State (72-61) but rebounded by crushing Presentation College earlier this week, 74-49. However, like the Tigers, Weber State also came up short in the first game in the Virgin Islands versus Illinois State, 73-64, last night.

These teams have split the two previous meetings against each other, with LSU winning in Utah by a score of 82-80 back in 1972, and the Wildcats returning the favor in 2001 in Hawaii, 75-74.

Both sides will be back in action in this tournament on Monday in the championship round.

LSU was ahead of the Monarchs by 12 points in the first half, but then the team fell behind by three at the break and shot a mere 33.3 percent from the floor in the second half, en route to the nine-point setback. Jarell Martin registered a double-double in an effort to get the Tigers over the hump, posting 17 points and 11 rebounds, but it clearly wasn't enough. Before fouling out, Keith Hornsby tallied 15 points and five rebounds for a squad that ended up with 16 turnovers.

Martin, who has made good on 16-of-20 at the free-throw line but a mere 1- of-11 beyond the arc over the course of three outings, is first among four double-digit scorers with his 18.3 ppg. Martin is also first on the glass with 11.3 rpg and that effort has allowed LSU to claim a 7.4 rpg advantage over the competition. Jordan Mickey and Hornsby are contributing 14.7 ppg apiece to the offense, followed by Josh Gray (13.3 ppg) who has a team-best 11 assists, but the same number of turnovers.

The WSU defense was far too passive in the first half against Illinois State on Friday, allowing the Redbirds to shoot not only 53.1 percent from the floor but also 5-of-8 behind the 3-point line. The Wildcats fell behind by 16 at the half and never recovered, although they did step up the effort at the defensive end of the floor by holding ISU to 0-of-7 out on the perimeter over the final 20 minutes.

Joel Bolomboy was responsible for 20 points and nine rebounds, hitting all but one of his 15 free-throw tries, followed by Richaud Gittens and Jeremy Senglin with 12 and 10 points, respectively, although the latter turned the ball over seven times with just one assist.

Bolomboy, who has been a defensive standout for the Wildcats in the Big Sky Conference, leads the team in both scoring and rebounding after three games with 17.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per contest.

As long as Bolomboy can get some support in the paint and Senglin refrains from playing too loose with the ball, a Weber State win should be in the cards.