LSU Basketball Will Try To Bounce Back From SEC Opening Loss At Missouri

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU’s men’s basketball team is only 0-1 in the Southeastern Conference, but it needs to stop an SEC snowballing effect as soon as possible.

The Tigers (11-3 overall), who lost at home Saturday to Vanderbilt by 80-72, play at Missouri (11-3, 0-1 SEC) on Tuesday night (8 p.m., SEC Network). Missouri lost at No. 2 Auburn, 84-68, on Saturday, but is a very good team with no losses to non-ranked teams.

After Missouri, LSU is off to No. 23 Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0) before hosting Arkansas (11-3, 0-1). Then it’s two straight SEC road games against top 10 teams – No. 10 Texas A&M (12-2, 1-0) on Saturday, Jan. 18, and No. 6 Alabama (12-2, 1-0) the following Saturday.

“I don’t think it’s anything too crazy,” LSU guard Jordan Sears said after the Vanderbilt loss. “We can learn from it, of course. Just us being stronger with the ball, myself included, starting with me.”

LSU committed 15 turnovers against the Commodores, including three by Sears.

“We’ll learn from the film,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “How you handle winning. How you handle losing is obviously going to be critical as we go through this league with the strength of the league.”

SEC IS SIMPLY THE BEST OF THE BEST THIS SEASON

Nine SEC teams were ranked in the Associated Press poll on Monday – No. 1 Tennessee (14-0, 1-0), No. 2 Auburn (13-1, 1-0), No. 5 Alabama (12-2, 1-0), No. 6 Kentucky (12-2, 1-0), No. 8 Florida (13-1, 0-1), No. 10 Texas A&M (12-2), No. 14 Mississippi State (13-1, 1-0), No. 17 Oklahoma (13-1, 0-1) and No. 23 Ole Miss (12-2, 1-0).

LSU will likely need to play well in both halves at Missouri, which has only lost at No. 2 Auburn, to No. 13 Illinois (11-3) by 80-77 on Dec. 22 in St. Louis, and at No. 19 Memphis (12-3) by 83-75, on Nov. 4. Missouri has a 76-67 home win on Dec. 8 over then-No. 1 Kansas, which is now No. 11 with a 10-3 mark.

“All season, we haven’t really put two halves together,” LSU guard Cam Carter said.

The Tigers played Vanderbilt within one point at 46-45 in the second half after trailing 34-27 at the half.

“The way we came out in the second half is the same way we have to come out in the first half,” Carter said Satudray. “We have to do a better job at that. We’re in the SEC now, so you’ve got to learn from every game. It’s something that we knew all season, but if we want to be a good team and at the top of the SEC, we have to be better.”

And to just keep its head above water, LSU has to at least beat one of these upcoming games against a non-ranked team like Missouri Tuesday and Arkansas next week.