Did what ya had to do against a vastly inferior opponent
LSU avoided a humiliating loss against Alabama State Sunday afternoon in the PMAC, rallying back from a 10-point second half deficit to win 74 to 61 and improve to 2-0 on the young season.
The LSU offense got off to a pretty ugly start in the second half, but the lid came off the basket to close the game. LSU rode a 19-5 scoring run to flip a 10-point deficit into an eight-point advantage.
If LSU wants to get where it aspires to be, it’ll take more efforts like this evening from its lead guard trio. Cam Carter was the engine behind the LSU offense, with a team-best 21 points. Carter was 4-5 from three and hit all seven of his free throws. Jordan Sears and Dji Bailey provided good energy as well. Sears had 18 points and five assists, while Bailey had 15 and four. Even better was they were aggressive getting to the rim, hitting on a combined 16 of 21 free throws, and they had nine assists versus two turnovers.
Alabama State definitely made LSU work for this victory. The Hornets were able to out-rebound LSU 38-33, and had a 15-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Alabama State also had more points in the paint, 30 to 24, and forced 15 Tiger turnovers. The difference was LSU scored 25 points off their turnovers, while Alabama State would only score nine.
Is getting out-rebounded by a bottom tier SWAC school a sign of things to come this season, or was it just a one-off? It’s too early to tell, and I’ll point out that LSU out-rebounded ULM 45-30 in the season opening win. Still, you’d like to be a little more physical against a vastly inferior opponent.
Ten total Tigers got on the floor Sunday evening, and nine played at least 10 minutes. I’d imagine the rotation shrinks in the coming weeks, as it’s obviously very early in the 2024-25 college basketball season; but right now Matt McMahon is, rightfully, experimenting and seeing what he’s got to work with this season. He’s also having to adjust on the fly now that Tyrell Ward is stepping away from the team.
Up next LSU will have a pretty big test as the Tigers are traveling to take on Kansas State in Manhattan Thursday evening. It’s never too early to start building a tournament résumé and this could be a chance for LSU to score an early Quad 1 win. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:00 and the game can be streamed through ESPN+.