It was another disappointing outing for LSU men’s basketball as the Tigers took another loss on the road, this time against TCU in the SEC/Big 12 Challenge.

Here are three quick takeaways:

LSU had its worst game on defense

The biggest storyline of the game for LSU was how easily TCU got points all game long. LSU gave up a season-high 77 points in the loss, which cannot happen to a team like LSU that struggles to score. TCU had a great offensive game plan from the onset, attacking LSU inside out and taking advantage of the openings in LSU’s switch-heavy defense. Mike Miles and Charles O’Bannon led the way for TCU with 19 points each in an offensive attack that was both balanced and highly effective. O’Bannon had a stretch in the second half where he made three consecutive three-pointers that gave TCU its biggest lead of the game and forced LSU to make some major adjustments on defense. Once LSU made these adjustments to try to get better closeouts, TCU was able to effectively attack the paint and get easy points there. 

Xavier Pinson’s limited presence helped, but not enough

For the first time in five games, Pinson made an appearance for LSU, albeit in a limited role. Pinson came off the bench and played seven minutes, scoring two points in that time. Just having Pinson on the court gives this offense a calming presence, but it was obvious that Pinson is still not back to his normal self. His playing time was limited and you could tell that he was not 100%.

It is a positive sign, however, that he seems to be getting back in the swing of things, but it will take some time for him to make the same kind of impact he was before his injury. Fortunately for LSU, its upcoming stretch of games is the perfect time to start to get back in a rhythm moving toward the back half of the season. LSU’s next five games are against Ole Miss, Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Mississippi State and Georgia, all of which are unranked.

Pinson’s health will be a huge factor in LSU’s success this season, and it appears that progress is being made.

LSU continues to struggle in the half court

Half court offense has been an issue for LSU all season long, and that problem has really started to manifest since conference play started. This team doesn’t have the same kind of scorers that LSU teams of years past have had, and that has been problematic for this LSU team when operating in the half court.

LSU has been most successful this season when it has been able to turn teams over and play in transition, and struggles when the game slows down. TCU turned the ball over early, but down the stretch the Horned Frogs did a good job of protecting the ball, which kept the Tigers from being able to score in transition. When the game slows down, it is obvious that LSU is stagnant, and there is not much movement in the Tigers’ offense.

LSU rarely runs sets or plays, and with a team that doesn’t have pure, isolation scorers, that can cause problems. It will be interesting to see what Head Coach Will Wade does to combat this issue, but at the moment LSU is having major problems scoring points when the game slows down.