There’s been a standard question LSU men’s basketball coach Will Wade has been asked in each of his press conferences the last three weeks since starting point guard Xavier Pinson sprained his knee in a home win over Tennessee on Jan. 8.

“Will, can you give us an update of Xavier Pinson’s progress and his availability to return to action?”

“We dodged a major, major issue,” Wade said on Jan. 11 before the Tigers left for a game at Florida. “He (Pinson) has no swelling. There's a good shot he could play Saturday (vs. Arkansas), depending on how he continues to respond. He's doing everything he can to get back as soon as possible but we're not going to rush it back.”

And then a week later. . .

“He ran a little bit yesterday, it could be a game time decision.” Wade said on Jan. 18 before the Tigers hit the road to play Alabama.

And then two days later. . .

“He was moving today, it was good, we’ve got to see how things react,” Wade said in Knoxville on Jan. 21 the day before the road rematch vs. Tennessee.

And then a day later. . .

“He ran a little bit today in shootaround, but who knows?” Wade said immediately after the Tigers’ 64-50 loss at Tennessee.

And then three days later. . .

“Pinson did some workout stuff yesterday, he’s going to do a little more today,” Wade said Tuesday before LSU’s Wednesday home game vs. Texas A&M. “I’d say if there’s any chance he could play it would be in a very limited role.”

And then a day later. . .

“Pinson’s getting closer, he worked out today,” Wade said after the Tigers 70-64 win over the Aggies in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Without Pinson, 18th ranked LSU (16-4 overall, 4-4 SEC) has lost three of five games but beat A&M to snap a three-game losing streak. Now, the question becomes will Pinson play at TCU on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the annual Big 12/SEC Challenge, or will he be held out until Tuesday when LSU resumes SEC play at home vs. Ole Miss?

If Pinson sits out his sixth straight game, it may be that Wade finally feels confident that sophomore backup Eric Gaines has taken a giant leap forward as Pinson’s replacement.

In the four games Gaines started in place of Pinson prior to LSU’s win over A&M, he averaged 11.3 points, had more turnovers (16) than assists (12) and played out of control more often than not.

Against the Aggies, Gaines scored a career-high 16 points (boosted by 9 of 12 free throw shooting), had three assists and no turnovers and made the game-saving block with 23 seconds left by rejecting an A&M dunk.

“He played his best game (since he’s been) here,” Wade said of Gaines. “He played the last six minutes with four fouls. For him not to foul those last six minutes was huge. We were down so many bodies we didn’t have enough to kind of keep it going.”

Tigers’ forward Tari Eason made his first start of the season vs. A&M but sat out the final 6:53 with cramps. Add Pinson and senior forward Darius Days (sprained ankle) sidelined with injuries and it left LSU without its top three scorers. It also meant the Tigers had to play with freshmen Brandon Murray, Alex Fudge, Justice Williams, Efton Reid, sophomores Gaines and Mwani Wilkinson and oft-injured junior forward Shareef O’Neal.

“I was very proud of those guys,” Wade said. “We still have a lot of growth (remaining). We’ve still got to play consistently back-to-back.”

With a win at TCU, LSU would finish its non-conference schedule at 13-0, marking the first time Tigers have completed their non-conference schedule unbeaten since going 12-0 in 1999-2000 in then-head coach John Brady’s third season.

It won’t be an easy task handling the Horned Frogs (13-4, 3-3 Big 12), no matter who is healthy for the Tigers. TCU leads the Big 12 and ranks in the top 10 nationally in rebounding margin (third, 9.9), offensive rebound percentage (fourth, 38.6 percent), offensive rebounds per game (sixth, 14.2) and rebounds per game (10th, 41.5).

“They’re physical, we’re going to have to block them out,” Wade said. “This is going to be an extremely tough road game.”

TCU starts a senior, two juniors, a sophomore and a freshman.

Sophomore Mike Miles Jr., a preseason All-Big 12 guard, is the only player that ranks in the top five in the Big 12 in scoring (fifth, 15.4) and assists (fourth, 4.1). He is one of four in the Power 5 that is averaging at least 15 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4 assists.