Judging by the way the LSU basketball team played over the Christmas holidays, there is no reason to think head coach John Brady’s club cannot at least duplicate the feats of the exciting 2000 Sweet 16 team.
The Tigers compiled an 8-1 record before Saturday’s game against Ole Miss and recorded two exhilarating victories over Top Ten teams that got the PMAC rocking to levels not seen since 1999- 2000.
LSU recorded two cake-walk victories over non-conference opponents at the beginning of the holidays, defeating Texas A&M Corpus Christi and Prairie View A&M in tune-ups for the huge Dec. 21 holiday match-up against then-No. 1 Arizona before a national audience on ESPN2.
In a game called by sports-broadcasting icon Dick Vitale, the Tigers did not disappoint.
For the first time since 1978, LSU defeated the top team in the land by a 66-65 score that was not as close as the final margin indicated.
The Tigers led by as many as 15 with 9:20 left in the second half, but after sophomore Tony Gipson called LSU’s last timeout with 8:55 to play, the Wildcats came roaring back to close the margin to one point with a chance to win.
However, Arizona’s All-American guard Jason Gardner lost control of the ball that went off of an LSU player with .5 seconds left to play and had the ball under the goal of the Tigers.
But senior point guard Torris Bright tipped a lob attempt by Gardner, and the pandemonium began as many of the 9,735 Tiger fans stormed the court.
The game was also the coming out party for junior college transfer Jaime Lloreda, as the forward scored 19 points and pulled down 13 rebounds.
Much like the 86-60 victory over the Wildcats in 1999- 2000 that turned many heads, the win seemed to propel the Tigers.
Nationally ranked for the first time since 2000 at No. 24, LSU was able to complete the Big Easy sweep, as it defeated Tulane 74-62 in the Sugar Bowl Classic in the New Orleans Arena and turned around and defeated the University of New Orleans, 69-57.
At that point, the Tigers had reeled off seven victories in a row and were confident going into their Southeastern Conference opener against one of the hottest teams in the nation, Georgia, on its home court.
Unfortunately for LSU, hot turned into boiling as the Bulldogs hit 55.4 percent of their shots from the field, including an amazing 64.7 percent from three-point range.
Georgia guard Ezra Williams nailed all seven of his three point shots, as LSU fell by a score of 89-63 after trailing by just three at the half.
The Tigers put the loss behind them and beat the Houston Cougars by an 80-51 score at the PMAC Jan. 8.
After the game against the Cougars, the Tigers were pitted to play against the seventh ranked team in the nation, Mississippi State, in LSU’s home SEC opener.
In a game many felt was a must win in order to keep pace in the SEC West in the early going, LSU put forth one of its better efforts in recent memory, disposing of the defending SEC tournament champs, 85-72, before an excited crowd of 10,442 people.
Torris Bright played what Brady called one of the “nicest” games an LSU point guard has played, putting together a stellar stat line that included 7-of-7 shooting from the field, including 2-of-2 from long range, 17 points, 10 assists and three steals.
The win evened the Tigers SEC record to 1-1 going into last Saturday’s game against Ole Miss.
In the Tigers game on Jan. 15 against Centenary, LSU exploded for 112 points as they polished off the Gents by a score of 112-65. The team shot an amazing 70.3 percent, breaking the previous PMAC shooting percentage record of 68.4 percent, set in 1982 by Tulane in the National Invitation Tournament.