It was loud. It was scrappy. LSU Men’s Basketball notched its first SEC win of the season in a four-quarter showdown against No. 16 Kentucky.
The Tigers closed out an impressive 65-60 win over the Wildcats with a wild sequence that included a 7-0 run allowing Kentucky to cut the deficit to one as the decimal point for seconds appeared on the game clock. Back-to-back steals and dunks sealed the game for LSU. Tari Eason led the way for the Tigers in scoring putting up 13 points including an emphatic dunk at the end of the game that sent the PMAC into a frenzy. Eason talked after the game about the sequence that closed out the game.
“It was a wild finish,” Eason said. “Obviously it wasn’t exactly how we drew it up, but at the end of the day a win is a win.”
In SEC play with the conference as tough as it is, that statement will apply to just about any game in this tough, conference portion of the schedule. Head Coach Will Wade said before the season that his team would have to win in different ways this season, and that statement is already holding true. A 65-60 game against Kentucky almost sounds unheard of with previous teams under Wade, but this team’s, gritty defensive style of play has already led to multiple games like this one.
Eason led the Tigers in scoring but it was a collective effort from LSU offensively; eight different players scored for the Tigers with three in double-figures. Despite only scoring eight points, Eric Gaines was a player that was huge for LSU down the stretch in this game. Gaines hit two big three pointers late in the game to help give LSU the lead late, and played a huge role on defense all game long.
After having a tough game against Auburn, Wade was impressed with Gaines’ response in this game.
“I’m proud of Eric,” Wade said. “He had a rough time at Auburn but he’s really rallied the last few days.”
Gaines’ style of play is almost a perfect embodiment of this LSU team. While not being a player who will often light it up on offense, he’s always working on defense and plays with a high motor. He has active hands allowing him to get steals and be disruptive on defense. The kind of disruptive and chaotic style of play that he and the rest of the team brings has been the tale of the season for LSU and won them this game in the end.
Wade talked about the chaos that his team often brings and how they have been dealing with it.
“We have been able to work our way through it most of the year,” Wade said. “We were able to figure it out tonight, but we have to be a little bit more disciplined with things.”
The discipline was lacking at times for LSU, as the Tigers turned the ball over 15 times which kept them from pulling away earlier in the game. Turnovers have been an issue for this team for much of the season and will be something that must get fixed going down the stretch in the SEC. Turnovers kept them from getting back into the game against Auburn and kept them from keeping control over the game against Kentucky.
Forcing turnovers, however, has almost offset this for LSU as they forced Kentucky into 15 turnovers of their own. LSU didn’t press as much as they often do in this game, but late in the game some of the trapping and pressure from the defense helped wear down Kentucky and allowed the Tigers to make a late run.
The wins won’t always come pretty this season, but this game was a great example that they don’t necessarily need to. Winning these kinds of games at home is crucial when competing at the top of the SEC and Wade and the rest of the team will take a win like this however it comes.
“You have to protect your home court in SEC play, and we were able to do that.”
