At what point during Saturday’s thrashing at the hands of Alabama did the LSU men’s basketball team wake up?
Was it at halftime, when the team was down 15 points? The final score disagrees. How about a 26-point deficit midway through the second half? Maybe, but it was certainly too late.
The team better be alert by now if it hopes to not relive the 66-49 nightmare twice a week for the next two months.
The Tigers (9-6, 0-1) travel to Columbia, S.C., to face red-hot guard Devan Downey and South Carolina (10-5, 1-0) Wednesday.
“South Carolina poses some of the same problems that McNeese and Alabama did in terms of their intensity, different types of full court press, ability to run and jump, that kind of stuff,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “They want to turn you over, speed the game up, force you to make decisions.”
Downey has been a steadying force for the depleted Gamecocks, who lost starters Dominique Archie and Mike Holmes earlier this season. Archie is out for the season after undergoing season-ending knee surgery in December, while South Carolina coach Darrin Horn dismissed Holmes for multiple violations of team rules.
“Dominique Archie, in my mind, was one of the best players in this league,” Johnson said. “The suspension of Holmes [was crucial], who was a big part of what they do. What Coach [Horn] has done is pretty impressive.”
No matter for Horn, Downey and the rest of the Gamecocks. Downey has averaged a solid 19.5 points per game and is coming off a 33-point outburst in a road win against Auburn Saturday.
“Obviously, Downey is pretty special,” Johnson said. “The thing that’s impressive about him to me is that he appears much more efficient on tape than he was last year in terms of letting things develop and still scoring a lot of points and getting a lot of steals.”
Naturally, the Tigers will have their hands full with Downey on the defensive end of the court. Guards Chris Bass and Bo Spencer will be primarily responsible for keeping Downey from blistering the stat sheet.
“He’s a great player,” Bass said. “He can shoot long range. We just have to contain him and play solid defense. We can’t take any possessions off. We have to be physical with him.”
Stopping Downey will be the main cog in attaining LSU’s first precious “W” in league play. A win would also mark the Tigers’ first road win of the season as well.
According to Johnson, LSU needs a fast start in order to avoid a similar fate as Saturday’s loss. The lack of energy Saturday frustrated the second-year coach.
“This basketball team, as good of kids as they are, that’s not there,” Johnson said. “How in the heck can you play 33 games of college basketball and not have energy every game out? Let’s not say all the right things — let’s do all the right things.”
 
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