LSU’s last regular-season matchup against the Razorbacks was one of its best games of the season, and it was incredibly heartbreaking to not pull it out in the end. It seemed almost poetic that Arkansas would show up as an obstacle in LSU’s path to the SEC Championship.
That poem would have had a satisfying finish if the Tigers had come out on top. Not only that, the only other SEC juggernaut LSU had not defeated yet this season was expected to be awaiting them in the semifinals.
Just imagine this: in an all-out war of a basketball game, LSU defeats its biggest obstacle of the season in Arkansas. Auburn moves on in their matchup against Texas A&M and LSU gets the opportunity to cross out the last empty box on their list of top SEC teams they’ve defeated.
And what if they came out on top in that one as well?
LSU would have beaten every team ahead of them in the conference, had endless momentum heading into the tournament no matter the outcome of the championship and fans would be incredibly optimistic of their chances there.
Instead, Auburn lost, LSU got dominated in the second half and lost by double-digits and LSU fans are about as unsure as they have ever been in this team. Are they capable of making a run in the NCAA tournament this season?
The Tigers were expected to get back where they had been in January, competing with the best teams in the conference and looking incredibly dominant on the defensive end of the court. They had made strides up until this point to show they were getting there, dominating Missouri twice, defeating Alabama in a close game and holding their own against Arkansas for much of their bout at the beginning of March.
But in their game today, it seems like they were right back where they were when Xavier Pinson wasn’t 100 percent.
They struggled rebounding the ball, giving Arkansas plenty of chances for second chance points on one end and not having many of the same opportunities on offense. They shot well from the stripe but weren’t nearly as effective anywhere else.
Despite shooting putridly from three, the team continued to chuck shots up from deep, not adjusting at all when they desperately needed it. That type of problem brings me back to the lack of adjustments made in their tournament matchup against Michigan last season.
LSU held their own throughout much of that game, even holding multiple eight-point leads over the one seed in the first half and a few two-possession leads early in the second as well. But when Cameron Thomas and Javonte Smart’s isolation-style offense got shut down late in the game, no adjustments were made, and they could not get back into the game.
Obviously, if you have a hard time taking down elite teams and struggle during crunch time, your team is going to have a tough time advancing in the tournament. And if your leaders don’t step up when it matters the most, you may as well kiss your chances goodbye.
Xavier Pinson and Eric Gaines combined for six turnovers and shot the ball 2 of 14 from the field. Tari Eason and Darius Days made solid impacts, especially Days on the offensive boards in the second, but they didn’t shoot particularly well from the field either and much of their scoring production came from the free throw line.
And none of the aforementioned players made a three pointer despite shooting a combined eleven of them.
This team has the talent and drive to make a run, but they have to be more physical on the boards, understand when they should avoid fouling and perform better under pressure if they wish to live up to their potential. Big wins against Kentucky and Tennessee early on in conference play don’t mean much if they can’t replicate that success when it truly matters.
Playing tight games against solid teams mean next-to-nothing in March whenever you can’t finish the job, and many LSU players would attest to that fact. There aren’t moral victories in March, just winners and losers.
