LSU gained their first SEC win on Saturday, beating Missouri 78-70.
LSU’s win came as they honored the 1986 Final Four team at halftime, celebrating the 40th anniversary of their Cinderella run.
Cinderella’s magic was present for the Tigers Saturday.
It was another instance of two different halves being played. Like Wednesday’s loss to Kentucky, LSU was leading at halftime and let Missouri stay in the game and creep toward LSU’s point total. LSU didn’t let it control them like it did previously.
“I think lesser men would’ve folded up shop,” head coach Matt McMahon said about the response after Wednesday.
Both teams had some trouble waking up for the Saturday matinee. After 10 minutes, LSU was leading 16-9.
LSU woke up with strong drives and rigid defense that were the keys that unlocked LSU’s first SEC win, forcing Missouri to shoot just 26.7% from the field.
Tenacious play from Max Mackinnon helped open up the floor as he was able to penetrate the defense. He utilized it best when LSU moved to a two point guard look with Jalen Reece and Rashad King. Mackinnon was active and opened LSU’s scoring with a three.
His catch-and-drive attacks often opened up layups for the Australian, and his 3-point threat had Missouri lost on what to do with him. He lit up the score sheet with 20 points, making 4-of-10 from behind the 3-point line.
The whole team followed Mackinnon’s lead and ramped up their play. LSU showed a new intensity after the first few minutes, displaying a change after their 0-4 conference start.
Marquel Sutton’s strong performance Wednesday against Kentucky carried over as his play further confirmed that he was out of his short slump.
A dynamic first half included 19 points from the fifth-year senior. He often found himself under the rim, pivoting and fooling the defense to get a layup.
His play was physical and impactful yet it didn’t come with detrimental scratches on the scoresheet. He fouled the visiting Tigers 3 times, but they weren’t as friendly to him. Sutton had 14 attempts from the line, and made 10 of them. It’s tied for the most free throws he’s shot in a game, helping him score 26 points in the contest.
Sutton and company, particularly the ever-energetic Pablo Tamba, were smothering and covering the Missouri offense throughout the whole game. They went 20-of-46 from the field and Missouri head coach Dennis Gates called LSU’s defense stingy.
LSU only allowed 27 points in the first half, and only two were attributed to Mark Mitchell, the visiting Tigers’ leading scorer coming into the game. He finished with 13 points.
The home team also forced 12 turnovers while only giving away the ball 7 times to help keep the game in their hands. It was a clinic.
“The second chance points and the turnovers was the difference in the game for us,” McMahon said.
LSU had 21 second chance points to Missouri’s 13. Both head coaches cited this as one of the biggest factors in the outcome of the game.
LSU recorded 16 offensive rebounds. Five of those were just from Mike Nwoko. Nwoko was once again held to limited minutes because of fouls but McMahon said he still had a tremendous impact. He had eight total rebounds in 12 and a half minutes.
“We were finding ourselves defending twice too many times,” Gates said.
LSU’s other center, Robert Miller III, has been stepping up big when he needed to in place of Nwoko. Today, he had 7 rebounds and four points.
“He just keeps getting better. He’s been fantastic,” McMahon said. “He’s been an elite defender for a long time.”
Jayden Stone was the only visitor truly giving LSU trouble on the defensive end. He scored 20 points and was the most consistent Tiger in black and yellow.
Everyone picked up the energy and effort for LSU.
King got his second LSU start and was quiet during most of the game until he got the crowd loud with a huge 3-pointer with eight minutes left to help fend off the comeback. With a minute left, he had once more beat the shot clock to bring the PMAC to life and the lead to six.
“You saw the experience of Marquel and Rashad step up in big moments,” McMahon said.
The freshman Reece has also gotten much more playing time after Dedan Thomas Jr. ‘s injury and had one of his best performances against Kentucky. He kept feeding his recent high and dropped 7 points, but had 4 fouls and an ugly transition turnover to boot.
“Jalen Reece has done a great job in his minutes of backup point and being able to fill in,” Gates said.
A road trip follows this win, as they will play the defending national champion Florida Gators Tuesday before coach Cal’s Arkansas Razorbacks next Saturday.
