When Missouri comes to Baton Rouge to square off against the LSU men’s basketball team tonight, it’ll find a Tiger squad that has seen more ups and downs this season than any time in recent memory — and it’s only January.
Consistency has been a problem for LSU this season. The Tigers followed up a brutal beat down at the hands of Tennessee with a win on the road against South Carolina, only to lose in overtime to Ole Miss and dole out a crushing win against Vanderbilt the next week.
“Something everybody on this team likes to do is win,” said senior forward Shavon Coleman. “We don’t ever have it in our mind that we’re going to lose. We go out and try to win everything, but we just have to keep on building and going with it.”
One of the leading causes for LSU’s struggles this season is a tendency to turn the ball over with what LSU coach Johnny Jones refers to as “home run plays” instead of just “trying to get on base.”
The Tigers rank 10th in the Southeastern Conference with a negative .5 turnover ratio, and with 239 turnovers through 16 games, only South Carolina has lost more possessions than the Tigers. The Gamecocks also have one more game under their belt.
Jones said a certain number of turnovers are to be expected with the type of quick system the Tigers run, but 14.9 turnovers per game isn’t what he had in mind.
“About 11 or 12 is what I’m comfortable with,” Jones said. “Too many right now and then there was the one game we had 20 something. About 11 or 12, if you’re playing well enough, you can get by with. Especially when you play fast, you’re going to take chances.”
Jones could’ve been referring to either Northwestern State or Memphis this season when the Tigers gave up the ball 22 and 24 times, respectively. Both were highs for the season at the time.
Missouri won’t bring an imposing defense to the PMAC on Tuesday — at least in regards to turnovers — as Mizzou is second to last in the SEC with a .8 assist-to-turnover ratio and is third to last with a negative 1.6 turnover margin.
Jones expressed concern about Missouri’s length and size coming into the game, knowing it will force LSU junior guard Anthony Hickey — who is ninth in the country and first in the SEC with 3.25 assists for every turnover he registers — and his teammates to give up possession.
“I make a turnover here and there, but it’s not always my fault sometimes,” Hickey said. “Since I’ve been here, I kind of know what’s going to happen from experience. If I do make a mistake, I try not to make it again.”
Hickey claims nearly a full assist lead on his next closest competitor in the SEC for assist-to-turnover ratio, but fortunately for the Tigers, the No. 2 spot also resides in Baton Rouge with senior guard Andre Stringer.
“Obviously we’re going to give up some [turnovers],” Stringer said. “But we don’t want that number to be high each and every night. We need that number at least under 10. It can’t be at 15 or something like that. If we can do that on a consistent basis, we can live with those.”
Who: LSU vs Missouri
When: 6 p.m.
Where: PMAC
How: ESPNU, 98.1 FM