Tag: Jordan Wright

Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball takes down Vanderbilt to begin SEC play 2-0

The Tigers are 2-0 in SEC play for the first time since 2019-20.

With a 77-69 win over Vanderbilt on Tuesday night, LSU has already matched its SEC win total from last season. It also began league play 2-0 for the first time since the 2019-20 season

LSU relied heavily on its defense in the early goings. It was a sloppy game for Vanderbilt, which turned the ball over nine times in the first half, but the Tigers struggled to take advantage and only got 10 points going the other way.

Still, the LSU lead was stretched out to as big as nine points in the first half, but that wouldn’t last. The Tigers ended the half on a cold streak, hitting just one of their final 10 shots from the floor in a field-goal drought that lasted more than four minutes.

Vanderbilt cut the lead down, and LSU was up just 30-28 heading into the break.

The Tigers got hot again to start the second half, though. They expanded their lead to 15 points, but the Commodores wouldn’t go away so easily. A 7-0 run cut LSU’s lead to just seven heading into the under-four timeout.

But the Tigers’ offense, which shot nearly 50% in the second half, was too much to overcome. It was another huge outing for [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], who scored a game-high 28 points. [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag], meanwhile, put up 15 against his former team.

LSU has been playing much better basketball recently, and that will be put to the test on Saturday when the team hits the road to take on a ranked Auburn team.

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LSU men’s basketball’s Jordan Wright named SEC Co-Player of the Week after Texas A&M win

Jordan Wright had a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double in the upset win on Saturday night.

LSU’s season featured some ups and downs through the first month and changed, but it began SEC play on a high note.

As an 11.5-point underdog, the Tigers stunned Texas A&M on the road with a 15-point win in its conference opener. That win propelled LSU up more than 30 spots into the top 100 of the NET Rankings, and it resulted in some hardware for arguably the most reliable player on the roster.

Guard [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag], an offseason transfer from Vanderbilt, was named the SEC Co-Player of the Week along with South Carolina guard Meechie Johnson. In the win, Wright recorded a 21-point, 10-rebound double-double, which marked the 10th of his career.

He also had two assists and was impactful on the defensive end, as well, finishing with two steals and a block.

The Tigers are hitting their stride since [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] was cleared to play, and now they have a formidable backcourt unit between him and Wright. LSU will hope that momentum continues when it hosts a struggling Vanderbilt team that’s 5-9 on the year on Tuesday night.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball upsets Texas A&M in SEC opener

The Tigers kicked off league play with their first Quadrant 1 victory of the year.

The Tigers won just two games in SEC play last season, but they began their run in 2024 on a high note with a 68-53 upset win on the road against Texas A&M to move to 9-5 on the season and earn their first Quadrant 1 victory of the year.

The first half was a back-and-forth affair, and LSU found itself down by two points going into the locker room as neither team had a very good offensive half as each squad shot below 40%.

The second half, however, was a different story. The Tigers outscored the Aggies 38-21 while shooting 47.1% in the period as they pulled away for a decisive win in a game they entered as double-digit underdogs.

Guard [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] was the star once again, finishing with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. He provided the bulk of the offense as the team ultimately shot just 40% from the field for the game.

Fortunately for LSU, Texas A&M’s offense was far less reliable. Star guard Wade Taylor IV scored 23 points, but that was the only performance of note as the Aggies shot just 25% from the field as a team and just 21.9% in the second half.

The Tigers won the rebounding battle and outscored TAMU in the paint 36-20.

LSU will have another winnable game up next against a struggling Vanderbilt team, albeit one that almost knocked off Alabama. That game will be in Baton Rouge on Tuesday night.

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Instant Analysis: Jalen Cook leads LSU past Lamar

Jalen Cook’s 17 points led the Tigers as they cruised to a win over Lamar.

Jalen Cook’s second appearance since returning to LSU was even better than the first. He led the Tigers with 17 points as they got back in the win column with an 87-66 win over Lamar on Thursday night.

LSU jumped out to a 45-26 lead at halftime, and though it couldn’t stretch that lead much in the second, coach Matt McMahon’s team still cruised to a much-needed win as it’s finally close to full strength.

Cook wasn’t the only transfer addition who starred. [autotag]Carlos Stewart[/autotag] scored 16 points, while [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] followed closely behind with 15 and 12, respectively.

There were a lot of positive signs from the offense, but the defense held up, as well as the Tigers forced 19 turnovers. They also scored more than half of their points (44) in the paint.

It will take a lot more than a win over Lamar to get the season back on track, but it’s a start. LSU will finish up non-conference play with another winnable game against Northwestern State on Dec. 29 before things kick up a notch with SEC play starting against Texas A&M on Jan. 6.

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Instant Analysis: Huge second half not enough for LSU to spring upset vs. No. 19 Texas

LSU missed another opportunity for a quality win as it had no answer for Texas’ offense.

LSU’s men’s basketball team looked like it was dead in the water at halftime against No. 19 Texas in Houston on Saturday. While it showed real fight in the second half with an offensive barrage, it wasn’t enough as the Tigers fell 96-85 and dropped to 6-5 on the season.

It was an ugly first half for LSU, which shot 40% compared to the Longhorns’ 60% and found itself trailing by 19 at the break. Things seemed like they could break really badly for Matt McMahon’s team, but the second half was a different story.

The Tigers shot on the right side of 50% in the final 20 minutes and put up 48 points, outscoring Texas in the second half. That wasn’t enough to dig their way out of the hole they found themselves in despite Texas’ shooting cooling off in that span.

[autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] had his best offensive game as a Tiger, leading the team with 33 points. In his debut, [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] scored 13 points, as did [autotag]Derek Fountain[/autotag].

But LSU allowed four Texas players to score in double figures, and it particularly struggled against guards Max Abrams and Tyrese Hunter, who scored 20 and 19 points.

The Tigers missed another opportunity for a quality win, and they’ll look to bounce back when they host Lamar on Thursday night.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball overcomes halftime deficit to beat Alabama State

It wasn’t a complete game, but the second half of Wednesday’s win gave the Tigers something to build on with ranked Texas up next.

After the first half against Alabama State on Wednesday night, it looked like LSU’s men’s basketball team was heading for another rough loss.

But after trailing at the break, coach Matt McMahon’s Tigers team took control in the second half. They pulled away to win 74-56 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, moving to 6-4 on the season.

LSU led for most of the first half, but it never managed to pull away with its largest lead in the frame being just six points. With an 8-0 run to end the half, the Hornets managed to take a 34-30 lead to the locker room despite being outshot 45% to 41%.

[autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag], who had nine points, was a bright spot. Otherwise, it was an ugly half for the Tigers, who were outrebounded 19-15 and had eight turnovers. They had no answer for ASU guard TJ Madlock, who paced his team with 15 first-half points.

The second half was all LSU, however. It outscored Alabama State 44-22 in the final 20 minutes, shooting 15 of 26 from the field in that span.

[autotag]Mike Williams III[/autotag] made the start and ultimately led the team with 15 points, while Reed and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] scored 13 and [autotag]Trae Hannibal[/autotag] scored 11. The Tigers also tightened up on the boards in the second half, doubling the Hornets up in rebounds after losing that battle in the first half.

While it wasn’t a complete game, the second-half performance gives LSU something to build on as it prepares to head to Houston with a huge opportunity in front of it against a ranked Texas team on Saturday.

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Instant Analysis: LSU comes up short at home against Kansas State

The Tigers took what is for the time being their first Quadrant 3 loss of the season.

LSU had another opportunity to get a resume-boosting win on Saturday, this time at home in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against Kansas State. However, coach Matt McMahon’s team came up short once again, falling 75-60 to drop to just 5-4 on the young season.

Both teams were red hot offensively in a back-and-forth first half. Each shot above 50%, but Kansas State was ultimately able to stretch its lead to eight at the half.

Despite shooting below 30% in the second half, LSU did mount a rally. The Wildcats led by as much as 17 at one point, but the Tigers went on an 11-0 run to erase that deficit and cut the lead to just three.

They never got closer than that, however, and they never led in the final 30 minutes of the game.

In an overall bad offensive game for LSU, [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] was held in check and limited to just eight points. [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] led the team with 19, but Jalen Reed was the only other Tiger to score in double figures with 12.

LSU was outrebounded by 13 and allowed four KSU players to score double-digit points with Cam Carter leading the way at 21.

It wasn’t the result LSU was looking for, and it will go down as a Quadrant 3 loss for the time being — the Tigers’ first of the season. LSU will host Alabama State on Wednesday night before it has another big opportunity against Texas on Saturday.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball holds on to take down Southeastern

The Tigers moved to 5-3 on the season Friday night, but it sure wasn’t pretty.

Southeastern entered Friday night’s game against LSU sitting at 2-5 on the year and looking for its first win over a Division I opponent, but it gave the Tigers all they could handle at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Coach Matt McMahon’s team escaped with a 73-66 win, but it wasn’t pretty. It trailed for much of the first half, though it pulled away to a seven-point lead at halftime.

It looked like the Tigers were going to put the game away for good, leading by as much as 15 in the final 20 minutes, but they never managed to put the Lions away.

After shooting 60.9% in the first half, LSU’s rate dropped to 36.4% in the second. It was also plagued by offensive sloppiness, turning it over 17 times in total and 11 in the second half.

[autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] was his usual self with 18 points, and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Mike Williams III[/autotag] also had strong offensive performances with 16 and 15 points, respectively. Overall, however, the offense was far more inconsistent than McMahon would like to see.

LSU didn’t make a field goal in the final 6:56 of the game, and it had to rely heavily on its defense, which held Southeastern under 40% shooting for the game and under 30% in the second half, to get key stops down the stretch and maintain the lead.

The Tigers got the win to move to 5-3, but it was far from an encouraging performance, especially with some tough games yet to come in non-conference play.

Next up for LSU is a Kansas State team that is coming off an Elite Eight appearance. The Tigers will have eight days to work out the kinks before that game on Dec. 9.

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Instant Analysis: LSU smoked by Syracuse in ACC/SEC Challenge

The Tigers fell to 4-3 after missing an opportunity for a big road win.

It looked like the Tigers men’s basketball team was going to be competitive in the early goings on the road against Syracuse in the ACC/SEC Challenge, but the Orange ultimately pulled away to an 80-57 win with a big second half, ending LSU’s three-game winning streak.

The Tigers led for much of the first half, and they trailed by just five at the break. But Syracuse shot 50% in the second half, and an 18-3 run down the stretch helped put away the game for good.

It wasn’t the best game offensively for Matt McMahon’s team. It shot just 39.3%, though it was sharper in the second half. Leading scorer [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] got into early foul trouble, and he scored just three points while playing 16 minutes.

[autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] led the way offensively with 15 and 14 points, respectively, but no one else scored in double figures. The Tigers also turned it over 19 times.

While the Orange had a bad first half shooting, LSU had no answer for star Judah Mintz, who scored a game-high 33 points, 13 of which came at the free-throw line.

After missing an opportunity for a statement road win, LSU will host Southeastern on Friday before a home matchup against Kansas State on Dec. 9.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball survives in overtime to close out Charleston Classic

The Tigers ended their stay in Charleston on a high note.

LSU’s men’s basketball team once again squandered a double-digit second-half lead in its final game at the Charleston Classic against Wake Forest on Sunday, but unlike in the opener against Dayton, the Tigers held on to win 86-80 in overtime.

LSU led by 10 at the break, but the Demon Deacons won the second half and erased that lead. Still, the Tigers had a chance at the end of regulation with a two-point lead with 24 seconds to play and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] shooting two.

Wright missed both, allowing Wake Forest to score the game-tying bucket the other way and send the game to overtime. The extra period was tight, but LSU pulled away to win in the final minute.

It wasn’t nearly as good an offensive game for the Tigers, who shot just 40.8%. They especially struggled in the second half, hitting just 7 of 27 shots, but they were 4 of 6 in the overtime period.

[autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] led the way once again with 23 points and eight rebounds while Wright (15 points) and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] (12) also scored in double figures. Wake outshot LSU, but it was also outrebounded and turned the ball over 18 times.

It was a nice way to close things out as the Tigers went 2-1 in Charleston and moved to 3-2 overall on the season. They’ll be back in action on Friday night when they host North Florida.

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