Last year LSU hosted Ball State in the second round of the National Invitational Tournament and watched in awe as the Cardinals hit 14 3-pointers on its way to a 75-65 victory before 12,696 fans at the PMAC.
Last night it was Auburn who watched helplessly as LSU hit a school record 16 3-pointers on 25 attempts before 5,159 fans in the PMAC.
“It came to a point that when we let the ball go, I knew it was going in,” said LSU freshman guard Darrel Mitchell, who led the team from behind the line, shooting 5-for-5.
LSU head coach John Brady attributed the amazing shooting to unselfishness from his players.
“I don’t know if I have every seen a team play more unselfish with a belief system in one another in sharing the ball than I saw tonight,” Brady said. “I don’t know if I have ever felt as good about a team showing unselfishness and sharing the ball as that team did tonight.”
Brady said this kind of effort was coming, and it was just a matter of time before it did.
“Arkansas was good, and the last three home games were good for us,” Brady said. “I am proud of our players for staying the course, and we are not there yet, but I am proud of them for staying the course and having a belief system in one another. We just went through a lull there where we couldn’t make some decent shots, but we kept taking shots and know we started making some, and it just catches on.”
Of LSU’s 16 3-pointers, 13 were compliments of an assist, and of LSU’s 32 field goals, 26 originated from an assist. Senior guard Torris Bright led the team in dimes with six.
Bright also went 4-for-8 from behind the line, and lit a spark early on in the game, hitting three trifectas in the first seven minutes. The Tigers were nearly perfect from behind the line in the first half, shooting 10-of-12 from behind the line, making a sizzling 83.3 percent of their treys in the first half.
“I did meet with Torris Bright, and I told Torris he needs to look to shoot the ball more,” Brady said. “He followed instructions.”
Bright said he got the team rolling, and his teammates took care of the rest.
“I guess I kind of set the tempo for the rest of my team tonight,” Bright said. “I made a couple shots early on and that kind of got them started. When we are shooting like that from the outside, I think we are a very tough team and basically very hard to beat.”
Bright said he wasn’t conscious LSU broke the school record for 3-pointers made, but he knew something special was happening.
“I kind of figured we were on our way [to the record],” Bright said. “Darrel Mitchell was shooting good, Collis [Temple] was shooting good, and I hit a couple early shots. It was a great record to break. I have broken a lot of records in my life, but it was great for the team.
As a team, four players made multiple 3-pointers for the Tigers, and a total of six players hit at least one trey.
Mitchell feels winning the Tigers next two games on the road at Tennessee and Ole Miss is a very attainable goal.
“If we play unselfish and together, we should get the two road games coming up,” Mitchell said.