Coaches usually are not comforted by moral victories.
Losing is never acceptable, no matter who is the opponent.
But LSU’s efforts in its 68-57 loss to No. 3 Kentucky in Lexington, Ky., before 22,483 fans pleased head coach John Brady.
“I don’t like to lose,” Brady said. “When we’re losing, I don’t sleep well. I take it personally. It bothers me. But I liked our team today. I was proud of them. Based on what other teams have done here in the past, our team definitely showed up.”
The other teams Brady spoke of were then-No. 1 Florida and then-No. 20 Georgia. They were both victims of Kentucky’s 14-game winning streak and came out of Rupp Arena humbled.
The Gators fell to the Wildcats, 70-55, after trailing by as much as 31 points, while Georgia lost to Kentucky, 87-67.
But the Tigers impressed Tubby Smith, Kentucky’s head coach.
“This was a very tough game,” Smith said. “[LSU coach] John Brady always does an excellent job preparing his team. We convinced our players that this would be a battle and we would have to raise our intensity.”
LSU (14-9, 3-8 Southeastern Conference) came intending to slow the game to a deliberate pace, and the game plan worked for most of the game, except for a 20-5 second-half run that put the Wildcats up by 20.
“We came in here to be patient,” Brady said. “We came up here to play half-court offense and slow the game down. We wanted to keep them from getting breakaway dunks and getting the open 3 on the break. My whole idea was to have a chance to win with six minutes left in the game. It didn’t quite work like that, but we played hard and cut it to five with about three minutes to go. Even in losing, we can take some positives from this game.”
Junior Jamie Lloreda led the Tigers in scoring and rebounding, with 18 points and nine boards.
Torris Bright, Collis Temple III and Ronald Dupree all chipped in with double-digit points, scoring 10, 13 and 10, respectively.
With 10:40 remaining in the first half, LSU led 11-9. However, Kentucky, who out-rebounded the Tigers 46-30, showed its inside muscle early. All nine of its points were offensive rebounds and put backs.
LSU trailed at halftime, 27-21, with fifteen of the Wildcats first-half points coming off LSU turnovers.
The Tigers and Wildcats traded baskets for about the first nine minutes of the second half, before Kentucky went on its 20-5 run to stretch the lead out to 57-37 close to the nine minute mark.
LSU then started a run of its own.
Bright and Dupree both hit 3-point shots sandwiched around three LSU free-throws, as LSU pulled to 57-46 with its 9-0 run.
Kentucky then hit a basket for a 59-46 lead with 3:29 remaining, but LSU was then able to go on a 11-3 run to pull within five with 40 seconds remaining.
The Wildcats then used free throws to win the game 68-57 and remain undefeated in the SEC at 10-0.
Senior Keith Bogans led Kentucky in scoring with 20, and junior Gerald Fitch followed with 15 points.
LSU will return to action on Feb. 22 when it hosts Auburn at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.