The LSU men’s basketball team falls to 19-8 (7-7 SEC) after South Carolina defeated the Tigers, 77-75, Saturday afternoon at Colonial Life Arena.
The Tigers led by as many as 11 in the first and second half, but the Gamecocks chipped away in the second half to take the win.
Tari Eason scored 20+ for his fourth consecutive game, putting up 21 points with ten rebounds. Darius Days was not far behind with 18 points and six rebounds. Xavier Pinson dished out eight assists and the Tigers had 12 steals as a team.
South Carolina was led by Jermaine Couisnard who had a career-high 33 points. Couisnard, who averaged 9.9 PPG going into today’s game, went 12-18 from the field and hit five threes. Erik Stevenson was second in scoring with 15 points.
LSU’s next matchup will be at Rupp Arena to face No. 4 Kentucky on Wednesday, February 23 at 8:00 p.m.
Coach Wade pointed to LSU missing four free throws as the culprit for the loss. But I point to the immature, selfish behavior of Eric Gaines with eight minutes as a main cause of defeat. He deflected a pass that went off a Carolina player. Then he chest bumped the opponent and got a technical foul. Instead of LSU getting the ball out of bounds with a chance to add to their three-point lead, SC shoots two technical foul shots, then sinks the go-ahead basket on their possession. The four points scored there changed the momentum and ultimately cost LSU the game.
What does a coach do with such a player? Bawl him out immediately in front of the team and audience? He’ll probably pout and announce that he’s transferring at the end of the season. Talk to him privately and tell him we can’t have that kind of behavior. It hurts the team.
Ideally, Gaines’ teammates gave him that message. We’ll see if he pulls any stunts like that again.
good for you Neal. You are right on. Someone has to hold these young men accountable for their actions. LSU gave that game away, there was no reason to lose to SC!