After falling to a top-50 SMU team on Saturday, the Tigers came back to the PMAC on Tuesday night facing Stetson with one goal in mind: win.
“This is LSU basketball,” world-famous Tiger alum Shaquille O’Neal said in the team’s hype video in November. “This is the Big Time.”
“The Big Time” is LSU men’s basketball’s team motto for the 2025 season, and the Tigers had a chance to show that they weren’t just all talk.
However, after a tremendous first half in that earlier game against SMU, LSU fell flat in the second period as the Mustangs started to heat up. SMU came out of halftime on a 26-8 run and shot 60% in the second half to put away the Tigers, 74-64.
It was a tight, tough-fought loss against some of the best competition LSU sees before conference play, but the elephant in the room had to be addressed: Are the Tigers ready for “The Big Time?”
“The loss to SMU, I think it’s something that we needed,” LSU guard Cam Carter said. “When you know a lot in the world, you kind of get a little comfortable and you get used to it. Sometimes you need to get hit in the mouth like that.”
While good teams won’t win them all, the best teams respond to adversity, roll with the punches, and fight back. Against Stetson, a spiralling squad who came into the contest at 1-9 and is second to last in NET ranking, LSU looked to separate itself from the pack.
The purple and gold punished the Hatters with a 17-0 run to start the game by dominating the paint, easily defending Stetson’s iso-ball approach and knocking down its jump shots. The Bayou Bengals bullied the Hatters on the boards all night, out-rebounding Stetson 48-23.
While most groups have themselves figured out in mid-to-late December, LSU faces unprecedented circumstances. The team lost last year’s starting shooting guard for the season, with Tyrell Ward opting to stay away from the team for personal reasons. Starting forward Jalen Reed had his season cut short in the form of a torn ACL, which he suffered against Florida State two weeks back.
The surprises have called for a constant starter shuffle for Tigers head coach Matt McMahon. But over the past three games, McMahon has finally found a consistent lineup, opting to roll out Carter, Jordan Sears, Dji Bailey, Corey Chest and injury replacement Daimion Collins for the foreseeable future.
Both Chest and Collins dominated in their usual night-to-night duties. The big men combined shot 10-13 (76.9%) with two blocks while nearly out-rebounding the Hatters alone (17). It was Chest’s fifth straight game with double-digit rebounds, and he only needed the first 20 minutes to do it.
Carter’s defense prohibited Stetson’s guards from driving to the basket, something that LSU has struggled with defensively all season long. He shot 6-10 (60%) from the field and was tied with Vyctorius Miller for the team lead in points with 16.
Bailey nailed another three and finished the night shooting 4-8 (50%) from the field for 14 points with five rebounds and four assists.
The Hatters scored their first basket halfway through the first period, and it was already too late: it took the Tigers less than ten minutes to put the game out of arms’ reach. It was LSU’s best and most complete half this season, taking a 47-10 lead into halftime and finalizing the beatdown 99-53.
“I don’t remember being a part of a 10-point half like that before,” McMahon said. “So I was really pleased there.”
With the blowout came more playing time for the freshmen. Curtis Givens III shot 3-9 from three-point range to finish the night with 12 points and a team-high six assists. Miller shot 5-8 (62.5%) and five rebounds to lead the team in points with 16 and remove himself from a shooting slump.
“I wouldn’t say I had a slump, but I’d say shots weren’t falling,” Miller said. “Me being a shooter, I know the next shot going in.”
While they didn’t beat one of the nation’s top teams, the Tigers did what they needed to do: win.
“I mean, just coming off a loss, next game you just got to come out stronger,” Miller said.
LSU will look to start a new winning streak, maintain consistency and emerge even stronger when it plays host to New Orleans at the PMAC on Sunday afternoon.
