“These are the games that you play for”: LSU’s Flau’Jae Johnson previews much awaited clash vs South Carolina

On Friday, Flau'Jae Johnson and the No. 5 LSU Tigers will have their biggest challenge thus far to their 20-0 overall record. The Kim Mulkey-coached squad will face the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks, who are the reigning national champions, in their first meeting since the 2024 SEC Championship game. The game will take place at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

As the two SEC powerhouse programs, LSU and South Carolina are in the midst of a budding rivalry with several memorable matchups being played against each other in recent years. After all, the squads have combined to win the last three national titles — 2024 and 2022 for the Gamecocks with 2023 in between for the Tigers.

In the latest episode of her "Best of Both Worlds with Flau'Jae" podcast, Johnson detailed what's going through her head with a highly-anticipated fixture slated for her squad.

"We're very excited. These are the games that you play for. If you're a college athlete, you want to play the best of the best. So, these are the games you play for so I'm super excited," she said. (7:40)

"I really hope that the ice miraculously melt. I've been praying to Jesus that they just melt the snow so that we can get on the plane. I'm trying to go play. We going on the road," Johnson added.

The much-anticipated matchup between the top SEC programs was pushed back a day from its initial Thursday evening date owing to persistent snowstorms in Louisiana, which prevented Johnson and the rest of the Tigers team from traveling safely.

The third-year guard will need to be focused to pull off a win against their conference rival. LSU is coming off an 80-63 triumph over the Florida Gators while the Gamecocks dismantled the Oklahoma Sooners 101-60 on Sunday.

Flau'Jae Johnson focused on defense ahead of South Carolina game

Flau'Jae Johnson said that the key to their victory against the Gamecocks is to defend their opposition well enough that they don't go on a roll to score.

"It's going to be our defense that'll really propel us through this game," Johnson said. "Me personally, I ain't even caring about scoring. I got a streak of double digit scoring for the whole season but, if I don't score and we play good defense, that'll be a win for me. That's how locked in on playing my role in this game I am even though I need to score." (6:58)

The Savannah, Georgia native is LSU's leading scorer this campaign, averaging 20.0 points along with 6.1 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.7 steals per game.