With the LSU basketball team trailing by three points and less than 10 seconds left in the game, freshman forward Brandon Bass’s block gave the Tigers a chance for a last-second 3-pointer.
But a Tigers turnover and a free throw by Global Sports forward Mark Green sealed a 68-64 win for Global Sports in LSU’s exhibition opener.
The Tigers trailed Global Sports 40-24 at halftime. LSU coach John Brady said the Tigers’ downfall came during the last 4:14 of the first half when Global Sports went on a 16-7 run.
“I think the game was really the last four minutes of the first half,” Brady said. “We gave them 16 points in a four minute stretch.”
Brady said the team played much better in the second half, outscoring Global Sports 40-28. He said the youth of his team played a major factor in the game.
“I thought the second half from a physical standpoint, rebounding and defending was fine,” Brady said. “Early on we had no idea. We did some things in the huddle, came out in the game and never got it into the game.”
Junior guard Antonio Hudson led the Tigers in scoring, shooting 5-of-9 from the field with 15 points and a 3-point basket.
“I think the first half we kind of went through a little mental drop and let them get ahead,” Hudson said. “But I was very impressed with how we fought back in the second half.
“With young guys on a young team and you get down by so many points, I feel like most teams would give up with being so young but not us. We kept battling and kept battling and got right back in the game. ”
Brady said the Tigers accomplished a goal of playing many of the freshmen for the first time. He said many of the special packages have not been implemented in the game because of the team’s youth – that might have resulted in a victory.
“There’s a lot of things in our package that we haven’t exposed our players to,” Brady said. “We’ve got no set plays, no special plays yet. We haven’t gotten to that point to where I’m just going to dump all that information on them because then they couldn’t do nothing. They’d be so bogged down with information that they couldn’t play the game.”
Bass played 31 minutes in the game – more than any other LSU player. In his collegiate debut, Bass scored 11 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots in the game. Brady said Bass still has to learn some of the basics.
“He shot a fall-away, a one leg fall-away at 6-8, 245 off the post at a critical moment when he should have gotten something at the basket,” Brady said. “Those are things an experienced player will learn to do, but I thought that Brandon played well in the second half.”
Brady also praised freshmen forwards Ross Neltner and Darnell Lazare. The Tigers had 10 players that played 10 minutes or more, which Brady said was more important than winning the game.
“I’d like to win the game,” Brady said. “But the goal I think we accomplished … was to play a lot of guys and give them a chance to play and see how it goes.
“Even though down 18, we gave ourselves a chance to win it late and I think that was positive and I think that’s what we’re going to take to the practice tomorrow.”