After losing three of the last four games, the LSU men’s basketball team desperately needed a home victory to even its Southeastern Conference record. It got that win Tuesday night in the PMAC when it took down Auburn in overtime, 65-58.
That’s the good news.
The bad news: Auburn might be one of the worst teams in the SEC, and LSU gave it three chances to make a three-pointer in the winning seconds to send it to overtime, the last of which Auburn point guard Varez Ward drained with just .02 ticks left. As good of a rebounding team as LSU is, there is no excuse for any team to get two offensive boards in the last seconds, let alone Auburn.
To top it all off, LSU will face three of the country’s top-20 teams in the next week.
First, the Tigers travel to Gainesville on Saturday for a matchup with No. 17 Florida, which boasts one of the most talented and deepest backcourts in the country. Gator guards Kenny Boynton and Brad Beal will pressure the LSU guards on defense and are capable of getting hot shooting the three and forgetting to cool off.
The slate doesn’t get any easier when LSU takes the back roads to Starkville to take on No. 18 Mississippi State on Wednesday. The Tigers will have to completely change the game plan, as the Bulldogs have one of the top big men duos in the country with Arnett Moultrie and Renardo Sidney.
I’m sure LSU coach Trent Johnson wishes that Johnny O’Bryant III was back from his broken hand for that one, as they could use all the frontcourt help they can get against the Bulldogs. It will be quite the challenge.
Then the Tigers get to come home and relax, right?
I don’t think so. The No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats roll into Baton Rouge on Jan. 28.
The last time Wildcats coach John Calipari and his group of super freshmen came to town, they blew out LSU, 81-55. That team had a record five first-round picks in the 2010 NBA Draft, including No. 1 overall pick John Wall.
I expect much of the same in this one.
LSU has no one to guard Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Terrence Jones.
Calipari has this team running on all cylinders, and they will likely find themselves back in Louisiana come April for the Final Four.
These three games will decide where — or even if — the Tigers will be playing in the postseason.
Best case scenario: the Tigers go 3-0 and get quality wins over three conference opponents. That would put the team firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, while giving them a chance to contend for the SEC West title.
Worst scenario, and the one far more likely to happen: LSU will lose all three, putting its March Madness dreams in the trash and possibly even leaving them on the NIT bubble. If the Tigers were to win any of them, they would be considered major upsets.
LSU’s best win on the season so far has been Marquette, so even one win in that week would help to pad the Tigers’ lacking NCAA tournament résumé.
If the Tigers fail to compete in any of those games and get blown out, Johnson will find his coaching hot seat absolutely scorching.
 
Micah Bedard is a 21-year-old mass communications senior from Houma. Follow him on Twitter @DardDog.
 
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