Lee wary of tough Kansas, N.C. State road trips ahead

LOUISIANA La. — Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

So is enjoyment.

Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun basketball coach Robert Lee was asked on Monday whether it was going to be fun to take his team on the road for games at No. 2 Kansas this Saturday and No. 16 North Carolina State next Wednesday, and his answer was revealing.

“I think that (fun) can be overrated,” said Lee, whose team is 3-3 on the season after last Saturday’s 79-63 victory over St. Mary’s of Texas.

The Kansas game, coming at the end of final exams week, is arguably the highest-profile regular-season non-conference game in the school’s history. N.C. State bested the Cajuns 61-52 in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

Both programs have won national titles and both enjoy a pronounced homecourt advantage.

“We haven’t talked yet about the atmosphere,” Lee said. “We’ve played in these kind of places before. I’m more concerned with putting us in a position to win the game.

“We’ll need to control the tempo. I said Saturday night that if we didn’t play with more effort, we could get beat (by) 80 (points). I don’t think that’s going to happen, but it could.”

That, of course, would not be remotely fun.

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com