Comparing last season to this season is an easy task for the LSU men’s basketball team.
Both seasons had a marquee win in the PMAC against a top-20 team, both contained baffling road losses to meddling Southeastern Conference teams and both ended on a sour note with senior day defeats.
And, the most obvious of all, both ended 9-9 in the SEC, stranding the Tigers in the cluttered middle of a criticized conference.
“I don’t know, I guess 9-9 is 9-9,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “The games we were able to win here at home and positions we put ourselves in on the road to win some games … I thought we were a lot closer to our record being different this year.”
Now the Tigers (18-12, 9-9 SEC) enter what Jones termed the team’s “third season,” a postseason where the team has wiped the slate clean and realized only they control their destiny.
The message was sent just moments after Georgia defeated the Tigers, 69-61, to close the “second season.”
“Coach just told us, ‘It’s a new four game season,’” said junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III. “We’re not looking back. We’re bringing our hard hats and we’ll be ready to play.”
O’Bryant, who left the floor Saturday to chants of “One more year!” by the student section, was coy about his future plans, only saying he was focused on the SEC tournament and he would discuss his future with family and coaches later.
For senior guard Andre Stringer, there is no such discussion. The Jackson, Miss., native has one more shot at real postseason play, something he hasn’t tasted since a 96-76 beating at the hands of Oregon in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament during his sophomore season.
“It’s gut check time, it’s tournament time,” Stringer said. “It’s time to leave everything out on the floor and hope you can play well enough to keep playing.”
Stringer carried the offensive load on Saturday, pouring in 22 points in his final game at the PMAC but lamented empty possessions and second half turnovers, ultimately saying the Tigers beat themselves.
Freshman forward Jarell Martin was the only other Tiger in double figures, pumping in 13 points — nine came in the second half on 3-of-4 shooting.
It wasn’t nearly enough to counter the Georgia guards as the sophomore duo of Charles Mann and Kenny Gaines combined for 42 points and an 8-of-10 clip behind the 3-point line.
“It was a lack of communication, not playing team defense,” Martin said. “Gaines was able to knock down shots coming off screens. Mann was able to get to the free throw line. We just have to go out there and play together.”
Now into the postseason, the comparisons to last season don’t stop at the 9-9 conference record.
As it did last season against Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Georgia, the Tigers will face a one-man wrecking crew in the first round of the SEC tournament when it squares off against do-it-all guard Trevor Releford and Alabama on Thursday.
The Tigers dropped their only other meeting with the Tide this season, 82-80, in Tuscaloosa. A game Jones said isn’t indicative of who the Tigers are now or the goals that lie in front of them.
“Right now, you have the opportunity to control your own destiny, nobody else does,” Jones said. “If you win enough, you get an opportunity to cut down nets. … If you don’t, you put your fate in someone else’s hands.”