LSU coach Johnny Jones and his team are searching for answers.
After beginning the season 9-9 for the first time since 2010, a season in which LSU finished 11-20, the Tigers are striving for an end to their current five-game losing streak against opponents in the Southeastern Conference.
“We’re a young team, but we know we can’t continue to use that as an excuse,” freshman point guard Skylar Mays said.
LSU hasn’t endured a losing streak this long since its 10-game skid in 2011 conference play.
Jones has suffered his worst start in conference play, 1-6, since his premier season coaching the Tigers in 2012-13 when the team began 1-5 in SEC play.
Jones said a year like this was expected for the team after losing the 2016 NBA Draft’s No. 1 pick Ben Simmons and Tim Quarterman and Keith Hornsby, but he wasn’t sure of the severeness.
“We thought at the end of last year that we’d have to weather some storms when we lost a whole bunch of guys,” Jones said. “We knew that there would be a transition year for us. How difficult it would be, we obviously did not know that.”
Turnovers have been troublesome for the Tigers all season long. LSU’s 14.2 turnovers per game are the second most in the SEC, falling slightly behind Ole Miss, which is averaging 15.6.
LSU also allowed an SEC high 79.5 points per game, which puts its defense at 321st in the NCAA in opponent points per game. The Tigers haven’t finished a season with their opponent averaging 80 points per game since 1994-95.
Mays is optimistic that the team can turn things around on the defensive end.
“We’ve got to continue and try to make strides defensively,” he said. “We can do a much better job, and we’re going to continue to work at it.”
SEC opponents have posted over 90 points four times against LSU this season. During Jones’ tenure, LSU has allowed opponents to score over 90 points 14 times. LSU is 4-10 in those games.
“We’ve got to make sure that we take the scouting report for what it is and make sure that we don’t go out and continue to repeat the same things that are causing a setback for us,” Jones said.
Recently, a few games have slipped away in the final minutes for LSU.
Tied at 56 against Alabama with five minutes remaining on Jan. 14, the Tigers allowed the Crimson Tide to go on a 25-10 run to close the game.
Down 73-65 with 2:08 remaining against Auburn, juniors Aaron Epps and Jalyn Patterson both knocked down a 3-point shot to cut the deficit to two points, 73-71, with 55 seconds remaining. Auburn went on to win 78-74.
“The last two games, we showed that we can play with any team,” LSU’s leading scorer Antonio Blakeney said. “We just have to find a way to win the game. It starts from the beginning. Last game, we let their shooters get comfortable, and they made some plays in the beginning. We’ve just got to play hard all game.”
The next five games could present an even greater challenge for LSU. Beginning with the No. 25 Florida Gators, the Tigers are facing three AP Top 25 teams in a three week span. LSU hosts No. 23 South Carolina on Feb. 1, and hits the road to take on the No. 4 Kentucky Wildcats on Feb. 7. The three teams currently sit at the top of the SEC standings.
“It’s a good opportunity for us,” Blakeney said. “We’ve been playing well. We’ve just got to try and find a breakthrough to get a good win, and this would help us.”