Tag: kj johnson

Haleigh Bryant, Jay Clark headline postseason SEC awards for LSU gymnastics

The SEC champions dominate the postseason awards, and five Tigers made the All-SEC team.

LSU gymnastics captured its first SEC title since 2019 over the weekend, and now the Tigers head into their NCAA regional in Fayetteville, Arkansas, as a No. 1 national seed.

The Tigers have a program-best National Qualifying Score of 198.215, and that’s in large part thanks to superstar [autotag]Haleigh Bryant[/autotag]. She set the program record for Perfect 10s this season, and she’s been named the SEC Gymnast of the Year.

She’s joined as a postseason award winner by her head coach, [autotag]Jay Clark[/autotag], who was named the Co-SEC Coach of the Year alongside Kentucky’s Tim Garrison.

Further, five total Tigers were named to the All-SEC team, including Bryant as well as [autotag]Ashley Cowan[/autotag], [autotag]Kiya Johnson[/autotag], [autotag]KJ Johnson[/autotag] and [autotag]Konnor McClain[/autotag].

McClain was also named a member of the All-Freshman team.

 

LSU begins its postseason run in Fayetteville next Thursday, April 4, at 7 p.m. CT.

 

 

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North Alabama’s KJ Johnson hit an improbable buzzer-beater while falling for ASUN tournament victory over old team

Who says March Madness has to wait for the NCAA tournament?

For an early taste in what March Madness is all about, the six-seeded North Alabama men’s basketball team won on a jaw-dropping buzzer-beater in its Atlantic Sun championship game at Lipscomb.

As the Lions got the ball back with just seconds on the clock, guard KJ Johnson took a prayer of a shot in the paint with tight defense on him to win it as the clock hit zero, 77-75.

What’s cool about the moment is that Johnson is from just outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where Lipscomb is located, and he played his first couple of seasons for the Bisons before transferring to North Alabama.

Johnson’s stunning heroics at the buzzer gave his team the upset road win to remember to advance in the ASUN tournament.

Watching the replay, we’re really not sure how Johnson got this shot off with such firm defense on him, but it just makes the basket all that more impressive.

It’s a tough loss for Lipscomb, who held the three seed, but a heck of a story for Johnson, the pride of Marshall County, as he returned home for the perfect victory.

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Previewing the LSU men’s basketball opponent on Wednesday Lipscomb

Looking ahead to the next LSU basketball opponent.

After squeaking out a win against Louisiana Tech last weekend, LSU will be back in action on Wednesday as Lipscomb travels to Baton Rouge. 

It’s the Tigers’ last tune-up chance before conference play begins against a good Auburn Tigers team on December 29th.

To put it mildly, Lipscomb is not good. They rank as No. 261 in the Sagarin Ratings and No. 257 in KenPom. On the year, they’re just 6-7 but that does include a win over Dayton. 

If there is any silver lining on this Lipscomb team, it’s their offense. They rank 3rd in the Atlantic Sun in points per game and 41st in division one in effective field goal percentage. 

They’re pretty good at shooting the three-ball too. Freshman Jacob Ognacevic leads the ASUN in total points this year, averaging 18.2 per night. 

The Bison took a big hit this year when center Ahsan Asadullah went down with an injury. Asadullah could score, but they particularly miss his rebounding. Lipscomb is one of the worst rebounding teams in the country, especially on offense.

Parker Hazen has stepped in at center and has come nowhere close to replacing Asadullah’s production. Grant Asman, a freshman, has also seen increased playing time after Asadullah’s injury.

The Bison backcourt is headlined by junior guard Greg Jones. Jones averages close to 10 points a night and is their most prolific three-point shooter. 

Guards KJ Johnson and Quincy Clark will also see time in the backcourt. Neither has proven to be that much of a scoring threat this year.

The Lipscomb defense is bad, really bad. It might be just the right medicine for an LSU offense that is struggling. Lipscomb doesn’t force many turnovers and they have done a terrible job defending from deep.

The lone bright spot for the Bison on defense may be their ability to not foul. Opponents only get 13.8 points per game off free throws against the Bison. That’s one of the best marks in the country.

Bottom Line

This is as easy a game as LSU will see all year. It would be nice to see the Tigers finally get off to a good start as well as work out some offensive kinks. A couple of Lipscomb players may be able to hold their own, but other than that, they don’t belong on the court with LSU. This is as much of a “buy game” as any.

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