It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.
That cliché should have been pounded into the heads of the LSU men’s basketball team after a tough loss to Ole Miss on the road Feb. 25, ending the Tigers’ four-game winning streak.
Instead, LSU lost to Tennessee, 74-69, in overtime Wednesday night, missing out on a win it desperately needed to secure a berth in any kind of postseason tournament.
After the terrific finish the Tigers put together en route to defeating Mississippi State, 69-67, on Valentine’s Day in the PMAC, the team has looked out of sorts and unmotivated at the most important time of the season. Even in a win against Georgia at home Feb. 22 didn’t leave me walking away impressed.
I was singing the praises of the job LSU coach Trent Johnson had done with his team after a stretch of Southeastern Conference play in which the Tigers lost six of eight games.
A week ago, I was certain LSU would be a shoo-in for the National Invitation Tournament.
But now, with a 17-12 record and two straight losses to Ole Miss and Tennessee, I’m not so sure. I could easily see either of those two teams snatching an NIT invitation right from under LSU’s nose.
On Senior Night, of all nights, LSU completely crumbled down the stretch after building a double-digit lead at halftime in the loss to Tennessee. Seniors Chris Bass, Malcolm White and Storm Warren might have just played their last game in the PMAC.
The Tigers can’t look to the past to solve their problems. They must look ahead and focus on the one remaining regular season game on the schedule at Auburn on Saturday.
Currently, LSU is tied for sixth place in the SEC with Ole Miss and Mississippi State.
Beating Auburn and finishing the season with a .500 record in the SEC would be a great accomplishment for Johnson after two consecutive 11-21 campaigns.
It’s almost comical that I’m concerned with the Tigers’ NIT résumé when the only real quality win LSU has outside of the conference is a home win against Marquette in December.
There are certainly far more crucial blemishes on the Tigers’ schedule than marquee victories.
During the first month of the season, LSU lost to Coastal Carolina on the road, and its worst defeat of the season came the day before Thanksgiving to South Alabama at home.
What bothers me when looking at this team is inconsistency. During the Tigers’ win streak, Justin Hamilton played such an integral part of the offense and was one of the main reasons the Tigers were able to even sneak into the NCAA Tournament bubble conversation in February.
In LSU’s loss to Ole Miss, Hamilton took only four shots. That same game, guards Andre Stringer and Ralston Turner combined to shoot 2-12 from the three-point line.
Why the team’s best and most consistent player is not shooting at least 10 shots per game is beyond me. This is the most critical point of the Tigers’ season, but you couldn’t tell by watching LSU’s recent play on the court.
Johnson’s team might find itself watching basketball on the couch in a few weeks if things don’t
change quickly.
It’s vital for LSU to reach any kind of postseason tournament with five starters returning for next season’s squad. I just hope they can turn it around in time for this young team to get the much-needed experience of postseason play.
Micah Bedard is a 21-year-old mass communication senior from Houma. Follow him on Twitter
@DardDog.
 
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Contact Micah Bedard at [email protected]