The LSU men’s basketball team gets its season underway today with a 10 a.m. game against UMass.

The early start comes as a result of the Tigers participating in the ESPN Tip-Off Marathon, which airs games for 24 straight hours.

“We’ve had some earlier practices this week,” head coach Johnny Jones said in a news conference. “Be it Saturday and Sunday, we’ve gotten up early and gone through. Yesterday as early as 8 a.m. in the morning, we were together. We took in some church and came back and practiced right afterwards. So, we’ve been moving around a little bit earlier than normal as a group.”

The Tigers, receiving votes in both polls, have a 35-point win exhibition win against Xavier (La.) under their belts.

Shooting guard Andre Stringer led the Tigers in that game with 22 points as LSU had four players score in double figures. Three freshmen made the start for the Tigers that game — point guard Tim Quarterman and frontcourt duo Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin. Anthony Hickey came off the bench and contributed seven points and five steals.

“I thought our guys were extremely unselfish getting the start as freshmen, they did a great job coming out (and) playing,” Jones said after the game. “(They) were not fazed at all because of the game, the crowd or anything of that nature and they executed well on the defensive end of the floor.”

UMass opened its season Sunday with a 86-73 win against Boston College.

LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones. (Associated Press)

Libby Isenhower