As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you–fool me twice, shame on me.
After LSU’s inside duo of 6-foot-9 senior Jaime Lloreda and 6-foot-8 freshman Brandon Bass dominated the first meeting against Arkansas this year, combining for 27 points and 23 rebounds, everyone expected the Razorbacks to focus defensively on stopping the Tigers’ inside game.
Instead, Bass and Lloreda combined to score 32 of LSU’s 65 points in a dominating inside performance in Saturday’s 65-52 victory over Arkansas.
Lloreda recorded his fifth straight double-double, scoring 18 points and pulling down 17 rebounds. Lloreda currently leads the Southeastern Conference with 13 double-doubles on the year and is second in the nation in rebounding at 12 per game.
Lloreda dominated the second half inside, pulling down 11 of his 17 rebounds, including six offensive boards.
“When we went to the locker room [at halftime], coach was complaining about it,” Lloreda said about the Tigers’ rebounding. “It was something we were not doing good. Coach told me I’ve got to go for every ball, so I came out in the second half and just tried to do my best and get every rebound.”
LSU coach John Brady said Lloreda took control of the paint in the second period.
“Down the stretch, Jaime Lloreda does what he does,” Brady said. “He gets every rebound. When we struggled to score a little bit, he’d just go get the ball and put it in the goal.”
Brady also said that Lloreda’s playing style, while not the most exciting from a fan’s perspective, has been the right prescription for the Tigers.
“Jaime’s not a flashy player,” Brady said. “He’s not like Stromile [Swift] where he jumps over the rim and does spectacular plays. He doesn’t jump over the rim, but he scores around the goal probably better than Stromile did, and he gets to the foul line.”
“If you watch Jaime Lloreda over the course of some games, you have to appreciate how hard he plays.”
Sophomore guard Darrel Mitchell said he agreed with Brady that Lloreda’s tough inside style fits in well with the rest of the team.
“A guy that doesn’t play above the rim and still grabs 12 rebounds a game is real good for a team,” Mitchell said. “When you know that when you shoot the ball, there’s a nine out of 10 chance he’s going to get it, it makes your shot a whole lot easier.”
If Lloreda did not provide the flash and glamour for LSU Saturday, his partner in the post, 6-foot-8 freshman Brandon Bass, certainly did not disappoint the crowd.
After struggling early in SEC play, Bass has come on strong as of late. After scoring 17 against Georgia Jan. 28 and posting a double-double at Alabama on Jan. 31, the freshman from Baton Rouge was named the “Diaper Dandy of the Week” by ESPN’s Dick Vitale.
Vitale’s “Diaper Dandy” brought the 7,263 in attendance at the PMAC to their feet Saturday with an exciting three-dunk sequence in the first half.
With 4:28 to go in the first half, Bass slammed home a dunk to tie the game at 28. Thirty seconds later, Bass rocked the rim again following an alley-oop from fellow freshman Tack Minor.
“That was a set play,” Bass said. “Coach set it up for me, and I caught it and dunked it.”
Bass was fouled by Matt Jones on his third dunk with 1:49 to go. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play and put LSU up 34-32. The Tigers would never trail for the remainder of the game.