Editor’s note: This story is the third in a five-part series involving attendance at LSU athletic events.The key to sustaining large crowds in the world of sports is simple: Win games. The LSU men’s basketball team saw a 37 percent decrease in actual attendance this season compared to last season when the Tigers won the Southeastern Conference regular season championship. “The better the players, the better the team plays, the more people will be in the stands,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “It’s about winning. People like winning.” Based on Johnson’s statements, the recent attendance plummet is accurate. The Tigers are fresh off an 11-20 season, including a 2-14 record in the SEC. The record was LSU’s worst since 1997 when the team finished 9-18 under former LSU coach John Brady. An average of 4,211 fans per contest walked through turnstiles in 2009, and LSU only managed to fill the 13,472-seat capacity PMAC more than 50 percent on one occasion —  Feb. 6 against then-No. 4 Kentucky, according to the LSU Ticket Office. A total of 9,168 fans made it out for that game, which was LSU’s biggest crowd of the season. “Most of the seats in the lower and middle levels are sold to season ticket holders, and most of the people come to the games, but some of them don’t unless you’re winning,” said LSU Senior Associate Athletic Director Herb Vincent. “The upper level seats people perceive aren’t as good, so they are harder to sell.” The main problem has been people showing up for games, not actually selling the tickets. Nearly 9,000 tickets were sold on average for each home game in 2009, with 4,211 fans actually showing up. The Tigers took 13 home games in 2008 to fill at least half of the arena after a 13-18 record in 2007. LSU accomplished that feat Jan. 14 against South Carolina when 8,218 fans showed up. The Tigers proceeded to rattle off 12 victories in their remaining 15 contests, including a 10-game win streak.  LSU averaged 10,023 fans per contest during that span, further echoing Johnson’s statement. Kent Lowe, senior associate sports information director, said a lack of student attendance attributes to LSU’s inability to fill the PMAC. A mere 749 students have attended games on average dating back to 2005. “You can’t really sell out the arena in some respects because … if students don’t show up, you still only have a crowd of 12,000 in the building,”  he said. “It’s very hard to get students out when you’re 2-14 in the league. It’s just the nature of the beast unfortunately.”LSU historically hasn’t always had this much trouble bringing in fans on a consistent basis.  The Tigers finished in the top 25 for average paid attendance in the country for eight consecutive seasons from 1979 to 1986. They also enjoyed the same success from 1988-92 during the Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Jackson era. But times have changed, and LSU has established consistent national attention via football and baseball, leaving the basketball program in the dust. Vincent remains optimistic that Johnson, who has only been with LSU for two years, can turn the program around and watch everything fall into place. “Once we have sustained success with Trent Johnson, then I think you will see tickets start to become in high demand,” he said. Meanwhile, the LSU women’s basketball program has enjoyed one of the best fan bases in the country during its recent success. The Lady Tigers went to five straight Final Fours from 2003-07, helping them establish a core group of fans. “We’ve had great support for women’s basketball,” said LSU women’s basketball coach Van Chancellor. “Our fans have been loyal and have really had an interest in our team.” There is no question LSU’s dominant home record during the last several years has helped. The Lady Tigers entered the 2009 season with a 32-3 home record since 2004 and have only lost 22 times at home since 1996. LSU set a women’s basketball record during the 2004 season against Tennessee and the fourth-largest PMAC crowd with a 15,233 paid attendance and 14,019 actual attendance.  ”LSU is considered to be among the elite women’s basketball programs in the country,” Vincent said. “It’s helped to build a crowd to stay there.” The attendance has marginally decreased since the Lady Tigers’ last Final Four appearance in 2007, but Chancellor, who just finished his second year as coach, has been active in marketing the program. JumpOnTheVanWagon.com was launched prior to the 2009 season to garner more fan support, and Chancellor has spent time during men’s basketball games navigating his way through the PMAC to encourage fans to come to home games. “He’s such a likeable guy, and he tries to spend time with the fans and students,” Vincent said of Chancellor, who was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2007. “He is very involved to try and get people out to games.” —-Contact Sean Isabella at [email protected].