Former LSU basketball coach Dale Brown used to put forth his best coaching jobs when his team was backed up against the wall or were underdogs.
And on the day that LSU honored his career achievements, the Tigers played like a vintage Dale Brown-coached team. However, it was not enough.
Despite the Tigers’ (17-8, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) persistency, No. 9 Kentucky (21-4, 11-3 SEC) defeated LSU, 70-64, Sunday afternoon in the PMAC before 10,264 people. It was LSU’s fourth straight SEC loss after winning five straight in conference.
The Tigers were without their best player, senior forward Jaime Lloreda, because of a lingering heel injury. His inside presence was missed as the Wildcats outrebounded LSU 30-27 and Kentucky forward Erik Daniels scored 14 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Gerald Fitch also had a big game for the Wildcats, pouring in 23 points and shooting 5-of-8 from 3-point range.
“Fitch is one of the better players in the league,” said LSU coach John Brady. “And he proved that today on the road. When they needed some big baskets he got them. And he and Daniels are the backbone of their team, and when they needed plays, they made plays.”
Whenever LSU looked as if it were making a move on the lead, it seemed like Fitch put a dagger right in the Tigers’ backs. He appeared to put the nail in the coffin with 2:57 remaining.
The Tigers were on a 15-6 run, including nine made free throws during the run and had pulled the score to 59-56 with 3:16 remaining after being down by as many as 11 points.
But off of a Kentucky inbounds play, Fitch nailed a 3-pointer in front of his bench that put the Wildcats back ahead by six and put LSU in a hole it could not climb out of. LSU guard Darrel Mitchell did complete a four-point play with 37 seconds remaining, but it was not enough for the Tigers.
“It was definitely an up-and-down game,” said LSU forward and Kentucky native Ross Neltner. “We battled back and forth and we were just trying to take the lead and go ahead with it. But it was a fun game to play in.”
The Tigers simply could not get over the hump.
They led 29-28 at the 3:16 mark in the first half, but never regained that lead for the rest of the game. They neared to as close as two points with as little as 20 seconds remaining, but Kentucky was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line the last 14 seconds of their game to put it away.
“We hit some tough shots at the end,” Mitchell said. “But that’s just the way things go in this league. It was a good team effort. We’re going to have to build off this game, even though we lost, and just finish the season out strong.”
Mitchell led LSU in scoring with 15 points and he was 4-of-8 from behind the 3-point line. Forward Brandon Bass threw in 13 points and guard Antonio Hudson scored 10.
Hudson said the team was prepared for the Wildcats, especially with the crowd and the tradition of Kentucky.
“Just coming in, playing Kentucky, you’ve got to get excited,” Hudson said. “That’s a big name. Everybody in the SEC wants to beat Kentucky. The emotions were flowing just because of their name and the type of reputation they have.”
Brady made it clear losing the game was the most important result of the contest. But he said the Tigers can take some positives away from this game, including the fact that much of the waning minutes of the game were played with four freshmen and one sophomore holding down the fort.
“First thing, make no mistake, we didn’t win the game,” Brady said. “But we won some other things our team needed along the way. I was extremely proud of the effort that we gave. I couldn’t ask more of our team with what they’ve faced and what’s happened to them.”