Two weeks ago, the Texas A&M basketball team upset the Tigers, 83-73, in a game LSU junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III has yet to forget.
“[We] definitely want to get revenge,” O’Bryant said.
The loss in College Station, Texas, was one of the worst the Tigers suffered all season, considering Texas A&M is the fourth worst team in the Southeastern Conference at No. 118 in ratings percentage index.
O’Bryant didn’t hold back when discussing his feeling on the Tigers’ first meeting with Texas A&M.
“I think that was a game we definitely shouldn’t have lost, and we have a point to prove when they come here,” O’Bryant said. “We shouldn’t have lost that game. I think we’re a better team.”
LSU (16-10, 7-7 Southeastern Conference) enters today’s contest at No. 72 in RPI and fresh off a disappointing overtime loss at No. 17 Kentucky on Saturday.
The last time the Aggies (16-11, 7-7 SEC) and the Tigers faced off, it was the fourth consecutive loss on the road for LSU. That streak has since climbed to six straight.
O’Bryant said he and his teammates haven’t been able to get over the hump on road games. The effort seems to be there, but the Tigers can’t seem to close out games; and time is running out for LSU to figure out how to save its sinking ship.
“You have to let the talking go, and you’ve got to come out and perform,” O’Bryant said. “We definitely have to show some action.”
LSU produced four players scoring in double-digits last time against Texas A&M, including O’Bryant, who posted 15 points and six rebounds.
But the offense isn’t what failed the Tigers.
LSU allowed the Aggies to score 83 points in the game, nearly 20 points more than the team’s current season average of 65.3 points per game. The total stands as the third most points the Tigers allowed in regulation this season.
“You have to come out and play hard, realize what they did at their place and counteract that,” said LSU senior guard Andre Stringer. “We know they’re going to scout us, and we scout them. It’s all about hustle plays.”
What Texas A&M did was score 10 times from behind the arc, tying LSU’s season high. Texas A&M junior guard Jamal Jones shot 5-of-10 from 3-point range — something Johnny Jones cited as a major issue last time around.
“They made some big shots,” Jones said. “They had some timely 3-pointers in the first half. Then the second half, they were able to make some plays.”
Jones said he isn’t concerned with a lack of effort from his team and disagreed with O’Bryant about this game being a revenge game.
Instead, Jones likes the fire he sees in his squad after losing games and wants them to take their recent setbacks as a challenge, not a defeat.
“It’s just a matter of translating [effort] to wins instead of setbacks,” Jones said. “They get frustrated with that, but I think the approach has been unbelievable and I don’t think they come up short in the effort category.”