The Tigers loss at Mississippi State Saturday afternoon epitomizes LSU’s struggles in conference play.
The Tigers began SEC play at Missouri on January 8 with a 67-74 overtime loss. That game set a trend for LSU, one that gives both excitement and disappointment.
In addition to the loss at Missouri, the Tigers have had three overtime games, including a double-overtime win at the PMAC against Georgia. In the seven conference games, the tigers are 5-2 with only one double-digit victory.
The trend that gives LSU basketball fans heart palpitations is that the Tigers have failed to pull away in those games. In this most recent loss, the Tigers started off with poor shooting, going 5-for-25 and allowed Georgia to take a 23-16 lead with 5:41 left in the first half.
One of the biggest issues for the Tigers is that they settle for three-point shots instead of attacking the paint when they realize that the long-rang shot is simply not working for them.
To give a win-loss perspective, although LSU beat Georgia back on January 10, they were just 11-29 from three point land. The Tigers also had just 23 free throw attempts for the game, making 16 of them. Georgia recognized their 3-point shot was not working in the game so they went for more of an inside attack. The Bulldogs went 2-12 from deep but was 26-35 from the free throw line. Georgia made more free throws than LSU had attempts and that will give any team an advantage.
In the loss Saturday, LSU was 4-23 from the beyond the arc, and they only made 11 out of their 21 free throw attempts. The Mississippi State Bulldogs were 4-11 from deep. They had the same amount of makes from deep as LSU, but decided to attack the paint after realizing they were not going to be able to knock down the deep ball enough times to secure a win.
MSU went inside and made 23 of their 35 free throws. LSU made more field goals in the game, going 26-69 compared to MSU’s 23-52, but because they did not make their free throws, nor did they get away from the deep ball, it cost them yet another single point loss which could’ve been anyone’s game. Mississippi State had a 44.2 field goal percentage compared to LSU’s 37.7 percentage.
With a three game home-stand in front of the Tigers now, LSU must find a way to attack the paint more. This is especially important with Auburn and number one ranked Kentucky on the list of opponents in the next three games.
If the Tigers hope to upset the Wildcats for a second straight season, Coach Johnny Jones must emphasize an inside attack or LSU fans will be leaving the February 10th game in disappointment.