Morning Report: Jarell Martin’s status, Arkansas’ sneaky test and prepare for survive and advance. Links, too.

Advocate staff photo by HEATHER MCCLELLAND — LSU freshman Jarell Martin participates in a slam dunk competition during Bayou Madness at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge .

Later this afternoon, I’ll have a Press Briefing post up with snippets a day ahead of LSU’s tilt against Northwestern State, but for now let’s take a morning spin around the SEC.

In Baton Rouge, the big news is Tigers freshman forward Jarell Martin will sit Saturday after suffering a high-ankle sprain barely 10 seconds into the season-opener at Massachusetts on Tuesday.

Neither Martin nor coach Johnny Jones framed the injury as a long-term issue. Between the lines, it’s conceivable LSU might sit Martin for this game and against New Orleans on Tuesday. Southeastern Louisiana visits on Nov. 22, and that’ll be intriguing to see what Jones does. By then, it will have been 10 days since Martin’s injury, a time frame that should allow him to heal effectively.

There’s another factor in that after Facing SLU, the Tigers head to the Old Spice Classic for a first-round meeting with Saint Joseph’s and a possible date with No. 13 Memphis if they can win that first game. LSU looked like a NCAA Tournament team against UMass, but they need a resume building victory. Memphis, should they face LSU, is potentially the last prime opportunity. Depending on what UAB does, the Blazers might position themselves inside the top 100 of the Ratings Percentage Index. Outside of that, it will be hard LSU to scrounge up marquee non-con victories.

So, to bring it all back around, having Martin healthy but also the rust worn off before a Thanksgiving trip to Orlando is vital.

With that, it’s on to links.

Alabama

• Tide guard Trevor Releford went off for 29 points against a rebuidling Texas Tech squad, one LSU visits next month in Lubbock, and gets Bama into the win column.

Arkansas

• The Razorbacks welcome in Louisiana-Lafayette, and one of the nation’s more underrated players in point guard Elfrid Payton. 

Auburn 

• The Tigers get Northwestern State tonight, with the Demons then busing back to Baton Rouge for a game Saturday. No fun for the reigning Southland Conference champs.

Georgia

• They’ve met 190 times, but every year the challenges grow the scheduling Georgia and Georgia Tech’s meeting on the hardwood. 
• Bulldogs coach wanted to have the services of Nick Marshall, now the quarterback for Auburn, when he attended UGA. Marshall was a former All-State hoops talent in the Peach State.

Kentucky

• Another signing period arrives, and the Wildcats leave with another bumper crop of recruits. John Calipari talks about the newest blue bloods filtering their way to Lexington.

Mississippi State 

•  Fred Thomas scores 17 points and lifts the Bulldogs to a win over Kennesaw State. Truthfully, any sign of progress is excellent for Rick Ray and Co.

 Miscellaneous, Potpourri, etc. 

• SI’s Luke Winn unveils the latest edition of his stat-heavy power rankings. UK checks in at No. 3.
• ESPN tells us to keep tabs on the St. Joe’s-Creighton match-up this weekend, with the Hawks as a sleeper in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Oh, and that same plays LSU.
• ESPN’s Eamonn Brennan says survive and advance actually starts now. The NCAA selection committee gives equal weight to what unfolds in November and December and the final 10 games of the season. So, pay heed, LSU.
• Peruse Gary Parrish’s take on the NCAA’s approach to granting transfer waivers. It might best be described as ad hoc.
• The Sporting News’ Matt Hayes answers a handful of reader questions in his weekly mailbag. Nice tidbits, as usual.

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