GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
So far, all we really know about the LSU basketball team is that it has a slew of new players, and they’re mostly tall, fast and thin with impressive wing spans reminiscent of some of Wimp Sanderson’s great Alabama teams – on paper, that is.
We also know the Tigers (2-0) trailed Alabama State, 48-38, on Sunday with 12:38 to play after giving up a 14-3 run in just over four minutes. Alabama State!
LSU MIXING AND MATCHING NEW PLAYERS
LSU came back and won, 74-61, but that is not very impressive going into Thursday’s game at Kansas State (2-0) at 8 p.m. on ESPN+. The Hornets outrebounded LSU, 38-33, and missed 19 of 20 from 3-point range. A decent night from the floor for Bama State, and LSU could already have one of those losses that kills teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble.
“Not ideal for game two,” said LSU coach Matt McMahon, whose team beat Louisiana-Monroe, 95-60, in the opener. “But it was much needed – the first time we faced adversity with this group. Can we put our focus where it needs to be.”
That type of first adversity would not be as unsettling had it happened in front of 12,000 at a full Bramlage Coliseum in Manhattan, Kansas, Thursday. Kansas State (2-0) is a first class program that will be an excellent barometer as to how much LSU may or may not contend in the Southeastern Conference this season.
At SEC Media Days last month, LSU was picked to finish 14th in a 16-team league after finishing 17-16 and 9-9 for an eighth place tie in the league and reaching the NIT last season. Kansas State went 19-15 and 8-10 for ninth in the Big 12 last season for a ninth place tie. In 2022-23, first-year coach Jerome Tang reached the Elite Eight and finished 26-10 with an 11-7 finish in the Big 12 for third.
“It will be a phenomenal environment,” McMahon said. “Sold-out crowd, so looking forward to the trip to Manhattan.”
Kansas State has an 89-65 win over UNO and a 77-64 victory over Cleveland State. It is shooting 43 percent from 3-point range (23 of 53) with junior 6-foot-4 guard Brendan Hausen – a transfer from Villanova – leading the way at 55 percent (10 of 18) and averaging a team-high 19.5 points a game. Senior guard Max Jones, a 6-4 transfer from Cal State Fullerton, is scoring 15 a game and shooting 71 percent from 3-point range (5 of 7).
“We’ve been really strong defensively against the three through two games,” McMahon said, partly because of his wiry guards. “That will certainly be put to the test there. They’re a really talented team.”
Senior 6-9 forward David N’Guessan was on the Elite Eight team and is scoring 16.5 points a game with 9.0 rebounds for Kansas State.
LSU “shared the sugar” in sweet win over Louisiana-Monroe:https://t.co/qM4r1yNj7Y
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) November 7, 2024
Senior guard Cam Carter, a transfer from Kansas State who played at East Ascension High near Baton Rouge, leads LSU with 21 points a game. He averaged 14.6 points a game last year and started 70 games in two seasons at Kansas State.
“I don’t think it’s any kind of revenge game,” McMahon said. “He had a great experience playing for coach Tang.”
Carter has answered the bell for LSU so far. So have transfer guards Dji Bailey (14 points, 6.5 rebounds, 3 assists) and Jordan Sears (12.5 points, 2.5 assists) and returning junior forward Jalen Reed (15 points, 5.5 rebounds). True freshman guard Curtis Givens III has been good in spots (7.5 points, 2 assists). Junior forward Daimion Collins, a highly touted transfer from Kentucky who missed last season with a shoulder injury, has not yet. He will likely be needed to do so in this game.
Someone other than Carter, Bailey and Sears has to make their presence known in this game for LSU. Up to now the Tigers and their new players have looked only average in two games.
If LSU gets blown out, that could be sign that the Tigers will not be in the top half of the SEC. If LSU plays well and loses close or wins, it could in the SEC’s top half and on the NCAA Tournament bubble come March.
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