Saturday didn’t begin ideally for the LSU men’s basketball team, but the Tigers Mardi Gras mamboed their way into the weekend with a meaningful win.
After trailing 8-0 to begin the game — and eventually 14-4 — the Tigers (15-8, 8-2 Southeastern Conference) couldn’t find a groove in the early stages of their 88-77 win against Mississippi State (9-13, 2-8 SEC) on Saturday.
“It was a weird kind of beginning to the game,” said senior guard Keith Hornsby. “He [LSU coach Johnny Jones] has to call a timeout to jack us up and get us energized.”
After raising team moral, LSU captured reign atop the SEC as Texas A&M fell to South Carolina, 78-81, this afternoon, leaving LSU in charge of the conference.
The Bulldogs started in a pestering 2-3 zone with a constant hand in the face of an LSU shooter. But, thanks to freshman guard Antonio Blakeney and Hornsby, the Tigers shot their way into a 43-35 lead at the midway point.
“We came out sluggish,” Hornsby said. “I don’t know why necessarily. We just had to figure out how we could be effective against their defense.”
Hornsby said the Tigers anticipated an active Mississippi State defense, but not to the degree the Bulldogs displayed in the first half.
“We practiced against the 2-3,” Hornsby said. “It’s different. They were very active. They did a good job covering the high post, where we wanted to pass. We had to figure things out. We started moving the ball better and it wasn’t as stagnant, or boring to look at.”
The Bulldogs continued pestering, and LSU started stroking.
The Tigers closed the opening half on a 9-0 run spurred by 30 combined points from Blakeney and Hornsby — LSU’s leading 3-point specialist, who shot over the crown on Mississippi State’s active zone.
Blakeney capped off his stellar night at 31 points, reaching his career high with 11:23 remaining in the second half.
“Tonight I just had more opportunities and I tried my best to make them,” Blakeney said.
He was money, which is nothing new to Hornsby.
“It was great,” he said. “Am I surprised by what he did? Heck no.”
The second half — for the most part — was a breeze for LSU, though.
Despite allowing Mississippi State to cut its lead to just six points at the 18:55 mark, the Tigers controlled both ends of the floor throughout the rest of the half.
Ben Simmons, quietly, posted 16 points of his own along with a team-leading nine rebounds and seven assists.
Hornsby and Blakeney continued to light it up, scoring 26 of LSU’s final 45 points. Hornsby counted 25 points, in total — tying his second-highest mark this season. Blakeney’s 31 points were 96.8 percent of the Tigers’ 32 total points from bench player.
“I am really proud of the way that Keith Hornsby and Antonio Blakeney stepped up,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “They made big plays and big shots for us tonight.”
Blakeney refers to Hornsby’s jumpshot as “butter,” well what did Hornsby think of Blakeney’s stroke tonight?
“Victorious,” Hornsby said. “Because he jumps really high and it invokes energy whenever he makes it. It drives the team to victory. Something about when his shot goes in, it really makes me hyped.”
Blakeney had it all going on his best night as a Tiger, until he received a technical foul for hanging on the rim and a staring-down a Bulldog defender after slamming home a dunk with 2:47 remaining in the game.
The dunk nailed in the Tigers win and earned Blakeney a seat on the bench for the remainder of the game alongside an angry Jones.
Blakeney said after the game his “talk” was directed at former high school opponent, Bulldog freshman guard Malik Newman. Newman, who was guarding —and was guarded by — Blakeney at times, scored 12 points and added five assists.
No matter if he “talked the talk,” Blakeney proved tonight he was capable of “walking the walk,” too.
You can reach Christian Boutwell on Twitter @Boutwell_TDR