The LSU basketball team was hard at work while the rest of the student body celebrated the Thanksgiving holiday. The work paid off for the Tigers, as they are off to a 4-0 start for the first time since the 2000 season.
Noticeable improvement from LSU newcomers and the return of senior Jaime Lloreda aided the Tigers’ success in wins over Troy State (1-1) and UL-Monroe (0-5).
“I think we got better from the exhibition games to our most recent game against ULM,” said coach John Brady. “I think the only way you get better is for individuals to improve. The freshmen are starting to learn their roles and know what is expected of them. Jaime joining our team has helped us also.”
The freshmen were key in LSU’s dominating 96-65 victory over in-state foe ULM Saturday. Freshman guard Tack Minor and freshman Regis Koundjia achieved their first double-digit scoring performances, both tallying 12 points. Freshman guard Brandon Bass added 10 points and six blocked shots.
“Tack has done really well,” Brady said. “He improved a lot. The ULM game was his best game. He played nearly half the game without any turnovers. It’s a matter of him knowing what is expected of him, what he should do and not do. We’re just trying to get him to take advantage of opportunities when they are there.”
Minor struggled in the exhibition games, but junior guard Xavier Whipple said he was confident that Minor would be a steady contributor for the Tigers.
“I told him not worry about it, that it would come and everything would get better,” Whipple said. “If he was just patient it would come. I feel like he is going to get better and he’ll be able to come in and keep up the same intensity that I keep up.”
The Tigers’ defense held a high-powered Troy State offense to only 69 points following the Trojans’ season-opening performance of 140 points. Troy State led at halftime 32-31, but junior guard Antonio Hudson put the Tigers on top permanently with a 3-point shot at the 17:36 mark. LSU built a couple of double-digit leads, but the Trojans kept within arms reach, finally losing 78-69.
The Tigers went 49.1 percent from the field, including 52.6 percent from behind the arch. Lloreda and Hudson led LSU with 23 and 15 points respectively.
In the three games since his return to play, Lloreda has averaged 26.3 points and 12.7 rebounds and has shot 23-of-36 from the charity stripe.
Brady said he is pleased by the team’s progress and he has nearly completed teaching the team his system.
Sophomore guard Darrel Mitchell said he believes LSU is in good shape and only will continue to improve as it prepares for Southeastern Conference play.
“We’ve made a lot of progress since the first couple of games,” Mitchell said. “I know the young guys have made a big improvement. They are starting to execute. We get better as a team day by day.”