11:40 LRN Sportscast April 14

CJ McCollum scored 27 of his game-high 32 points in the first half, Brandon Ingram added 27 of his own, and Jonas Valanciunas finished with 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Pelicans moved closer to an NBA playoff berth with a 113-103 victory over the San Antonio Spurs in front of a sold-out crowd at the Smoothie King Center last night. After the game Ingram reflected on the journey from 1-12 to last night’s electric scene.

Cut 21 (17) “…keep our focus.”

Next up, the Pelicans will travel to Los Angeles to face the Clippers on Friday night. The winner of that game will earn the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and take on the Phoenix Suns in the first round. New Orleans is 3-1 against LA this season.

A big part of changing the fortunes in Death Valley will be fixing the LSU offense. Coach Brian Kelly has always been demanding of his quarterbacks, and offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock said that for this group learning the new system has been like drinking from a fire hose at times, though he sees the traits he’s looking for from the next leader of the LSU attack.

Cut 18 (18) “…all looking for.”

Over on the diamond, LSU is on the road taking on first-place Arkansas in a big weekend series. The UL Cajuns look to extend their dominance over UL-Monroe in the Sun Belt. Tulane and UNO try to move closer to claiming conference titles against Houston and Southeastern respectively. Southern hosts Prairie View, Northwestern State visits Nicholls, and McNeese welcomes Incarnate Word.