The last time the LSU men’s basketball team got a road win, the LSU football team was still undefeated, the New Orleans Saints seemed destined for another playoff run and Jeremy Lin was two days away from being dropped by the Houston Rockets.
That was Dec. 22, when the Tigers (15-10, 5-6 Southeastern Conference) defeated North Texas, 67-58.
Since then, LSU has gone 0-for-5 away from home. Each of those losses were against SEC teams.
LSU’s 69-67 overtime win against No. 23 Mississippi State on Tuesday provided the Tigers with their first win against a ranked team since a Dec. 19, 67-59, victory against No. 10 Marquette.
LSU coach Trent Johnson said the Tigers need to carry over their consistency from their overtime win.
“The consistency starts with defensive effort,” Johnson said. “If they play defense like they did in the second half tonight, the environment or where we’re playing won’t matter.”
The Tigers are having problems getting started early in games this season, though.
On Tuesday the Tigers trailed the Bulldogs 30-13 with six minutes left in the first half.
LSU was also behind Alabama, 31-19, at halftime in its game in Tuscaloosa, Ala., on Jan. 11. The Tigers went on to lose by 16 points.
“What we need is to start better and not dig ourselves a hole when we’re on the road,” Johnson said. “We can’t have starts like we had [Tuesday]. That comeback is too much to ask for every game.”
LSU senior forward Storm Warren said this season’s team has a better chance to fix its problems than last season’s team, which lost 14 of its last 15 games.
“One thing I can say about this group compared to the last two is we have the bodies and the talent and skill to get it done,” he said.
Warren said the Tigers had trouble early in the season because of inexperience and injury problems.
Freshman forward Johnny O’Bryant III sat out most of January with a broken hand, while sophomore guard Andre Stringer missed five games in December due to fainting spells.
LSU has two freshmen starters in O’Bryant and guard Anthony Hickey.
“Our freshmen aren’t young anymore,” Warren said. “They have confidence now, especially after a game like [Mississippi State].”
Johnson said he thinks the Tigers’ tough SEC road games will benefit LSU during the final stretch of the season.
“We’ve had 17 rounds, and we’ve almost been TKO’d in 2 of them, talking about Kentucky and Alabama,” he said. “If we survived those blows, I’m not worried about this team responding when they’re punched — and I don’t mean that literally — on the road in tough spots.”
 
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Contact Albert Buford at [email protected]