Kentucky senior Perry Stevenson will be returning to his home state Saturday when the fourth-ranked Wildcats take on LSU.

Stevenson, a graduate of Northside High School in Lafayette, La., knows what to expect from the Tigers, who are 0-8 in the Southeastern Conference.

“They can beat us,” Stevenson said. “They have good players and I am not for sure what is going on, (with them losing) but unfortunately they will be clicking on all cylinders when we go down there on Saturday. That is just how it goes.”

Stevenson hopes his team can make a better showing than it did in two losses against the Tigers last season. In Kentucky’s last visit to Baton Rouge two years ago, the Wildcats posted a 67-63 victory over the Tigers. Stevenson is looking forward to returning home.

“It feels good,” Stevenson said. “I live so close to Baton Rouge and I will have a lot of people there. It feels good to go home with such a good team. I have a pretty good feeling going in there.”
Stevenson will have plenty of friends, family and others in attendance.

“I will have 15 family members there: my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmothers and my mom. They just ask if I like it and that is all they care about. They just want to make sure that I am having fun.”
Like Stevenson, Kentucky’s Darius Miller knows his team will have a tough task in his first-ever visit to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

“We are expecting their best game,” he said. “That is how we look at it, like they are going to play their best against us. We feel that we are going to have a tough game every time that we step out onto the floor. We are going to have to be focused and ready to play with a lot of intensity.”
Kentucky senior Ramon Harris is expecting a packed house.

“It’s going to be a good game,” he said. “They had a tough loss to Tennessee and I anticipate the atmosphere being intense. I am sure a crowd is going to show up. That’s one thing about Kentucky, there is always a crowd of blue wherever we go. I am surprised on how much they are struggling lately, but they do have a good team. There are guys on the team that can play ball. They have a high intensity at this level. They have had some tough losses.”

Kentucky at LSU: 4 p.m., Channel 27.