LSU men’s basketball failed to maintain its electrifying start on Saturday night against Georgia with an 83-71 loss.
The battle versus the Bulldogs first appeared to turn over a new leaf for the Tigers this season, as they played strong from the beginning. But old habits snuck in and the Tigers lost steam as the first half progressed, and couldn’t bring it back in the second half.
Head coach Matt McMahon said during his midweek press conference that the week off was going to be good for his guys on Saturday.
“You want to get everyone refreshed and recharged for the second half of league play,” McMahon said. “I think the guys have taken advantage of the week off.”
LSU couldn’t maintain its energy as the game progressed. Georgia continued to chip away at the lead in the second half.
McMahon was on a mission to cool his hot seat after an upsetting loss to Mississippi State a few games prior to Saturday’s matchup, but after falling to the Bulldogs, the seat has warmed back up significantly.
In addition to the lost momentum, the Tigers’ defense struggled to keep the Bulldogs at bay. Entering the matchup, McMahon said Georgia played a fast-paced game and that it would be a challenge to hold off its offense.
LSU began the game with the intent to overpower Georgia, but it couldn’t keep it up as the game continued.
Despite the upsetting night for the Tigers, senior guard Max MacKinnon continued to sink points for the Tigers. He led them in points with 26, going 7-for-16 from the field.
His strength of the season offensively has been sinking 3-point buckets, and he did his job well on Saturday. Of his 26 points, six of them came in the form of 3-point shots. He was 2-for-9 from behind the 3-point line.
McMahon has said repeatedly throughout the season that Mackinnon’s ability to sink threes would help the Tigers as the season progressed, and he’s truly hit his stride as of late in that category.
“[Mackinnon is] a really good screener, which I think when you have an elite shooter as Max is, over 40 percent from behind the 3-point line, a lot of teams are trying to take him away,” McMahon said. “If you can be a screener, it can really help free up your teammates. So those are a couple of things that maybe don’t get talked about enough that I think he does at a really high level.”
The one thing that sets LSU apart from other teams is the grit and fight to the final buzzer it possesses. This was definitely true for LSU on Saturday night.
Even though the 15-point lead vanished as the contest continued, LSU continued to fight until the buzzer sounded. As the clock ticked down, the team continued to put up a fight, leaving it all on the court.
Despite the fighting effort, it just wasn’t enough to regain the momentum lost. The Tigers will try to avoid another losing streak as they take on Arkansas on Tuesday at 8 p.m. in Baton Rouge.
