It’s been a quarter century since the 2000 LSU men’s basketball team made the Sweet 16.
On Saturday, the purple and gold alums returned for the team’s game against Texas to celebrate their accomplishment 25 years later.
But once the game tipped off, the Tigers’ consistent struggles plagued them: turnovers and rebounds.
On Wednesday against No. 1 Auburn, LSU was out-rebounded 47-34 (-13), lost the turnover battle 20-9 (-11) and ultimately lost 87-74.
It’s hard to string together many wins when you’re losing both the turnover battle and the one on the boards.
The Tigers could only manage four offensive rebounds throughout the contest, while Texas more than doubled their count with 10.
“On the offensive glass, we were non-existent,” said LSU head coach Matt McMahon. “There were plenty of missed shots to pursue. We only got four there. Speaks to the energy we played with on the glass there.”
The Tigers have yet to turn the ball over less times than any of their SEC opponents in a game once this season.
LSU is 1-4 when losing the turnover battle and 0-4 when being out-rebounded since the start of the new year. Neither of those two numbers is a recipe for success.
In this game, the Tigers’ bench kept them around. Jordan Sears, Vyctorius Miller and Robert Miller III waited to get their numbers called and delivered.
Sears shot 4-for-6 (66.7%) for eight points, Miller shot 2-for-4 (50%) for five points and Miller III 3-for-5 (60%) for six points while gobbling up six boards to keep LSU’s offense competitive.
Kadin Shedrick got Texas running early by driving to the hoop, getting inside and making his way to the charity stripe in the first half on Saturday.
Through the first 20 minutes, Shedrick shot 2-for-5 (40%), 3-4 (75%) from the free throw line, and snagged six rebounds.
Longhorns freshman guard Tre Johnson also went to work with an efficient 4-for-9 (44.4%) half-shooting from the field with four rebounds to give Texas a 31-25 halftime lead.
But in the final 20 minutes, the Longhorns blew it wide open.
Texas shot 24-35 (68.6%) in the second half to outscore the Tigers 58-33 and go on to route LSU 89-58. It’s the Longhorns’ largest margin of victory in a road league game since it beat in-state rival Texas Tech by 31 nearly a decade and a half ago.
Texas senior guard Tramon Mark had 16 of his 18 in the final frame, shooting 6-for-8 (75%) from the floor, 2-for-2 (100%) from 3, and 2-2 (100%) from the line in the second half.
Both Johnson and Shedrick replicated their nine and eight-point first-half performances in the second to finish with 18 and 16 points, respectively.
Not a single fighting Tiger scored double-digits in the second half.
Corey Chest shot 3-for-3 (100%) underneath for six points and three rebounds, while Trey’Dez Green shot 2-for-2 (100%), knocking down a fade-away jumper, but that is about all to note from LSU offensively.
Cam Carter had his worst game of the season, posting a measly six points, shooting only 2-for-7 (28.6%) and failing to hit a three.
“We just never could get [Carter] freed up,” McMahon said.
Sears chipped in with another five in the final frame to lead the Tigers in scoring on the day with 13. He was the only LSU player who scored over 10 points on the day.
As usual, the lack of 3-point shooting separated the Tigers early.
The Longhorns blew LSU out by 31 points, primarily due to the significant difference in each team’s long-ranged outing; Texas shot 10-for-21 (47.6%) from 3-point range while the Tigers could only muster a pathetic 2-for-15 (13.3%) performance from behind the arc.
It starkly contrasted what we heard when former LSU head coach John Brady and retired Tiger big man Stromile Smith, members of the 2000 Sweet 16 team honored during the weekend, spoke about their time with the program.
“The decision to come to LSU was probably one of the best decisions of my life,” Swift, the 2000 SEC Co-Player of the Year, said.
On March 18, 2000, Swift took over in the second half, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds to lead the Tigers to a 72-67 victory over the Longhorns in the second round of the NCAA Tournament and punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.
“I only like to say it’s been five years, but it goes by quickly,” Brady said.
While it might feel like just yesterday for Brady, it’s been a long time coming for LSU.
The Tigers have only made the Sweet 16 twice since Brady’s bunch did it at the turn of the century, including a run to the Final Four in 2006.
On Friday, Brady and Swift struggled to answer a question about the similarities between the 2000 Sweet 16 team and LSU’s current form.
“Was that for me or for coach [Brady]?” Smith said after a pause.
The Tigers could’ve used a star like Smith to elevate their offense out of the depths of stagnation it found itself in on Saturday.
LSU seemed on the rise and ready to snap its four-game winning streak, but this loss was beyond draining.
“You look at the last four games, I really thought we had made a lot of progress with the win here against Arkansas, competitiveness in the fight at [Texas] A&M, at Alabama, then again against Auburn here at home,” McMahon said. “Then to take those steps backwards in the second half is disappointing. So, it’s my responsibility. [I] didn’t have them ready to go, and [I’ve] got to get to work and figure out some ways to fix it.”
The Tigers can still turn their season around, no matter who’s at fault.
The next five games are all still very winnable for LSU: Georgia, No. 23 Ole Miss, Arkansas, Oklahoma and South Carolina.
It’s very important that the Tigers stack up wins now and garner as much momentum and rhythm as they can before facing their final five foes: No. 5 Florida, No. 8 Tennessee, No. 14 Mississippi State, No. 12 Kentucky and No. 13 Texas A&M.
But first, LSU will travel to Athens, Georgia, to try and break their four-game losing streak against the Bulldogs on Wednesday night.
“Yeah, I think [we’re] gonna have to have some really competitive practices and try to determine who needs to be on the floor, what combinations are best, who can help us in the areas of ball security, defensive rebounding, offensive execution to give ourselves a better chance,” McMahon said. “That’s the only way I know how to do it. Moving forward, we’ll get back to work.”
