Tag: Will Baker

Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball finishes regular season on a high note with Senior Night win over Missouri

LSU will be the No. 8 seed at the SEC Tournament in Nashville next week.

LSU fittingly honored its seniors on Saturday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, beating Missouri 84-80 in the regular season finale.

Coach Matt McMahon’s team will enter the SEC Tournament at 17-14 with a 9-9 record in league play after finishing 2-16 a season ago. Missouri, meanwhile, finishes 0-18 in conference play in what has been a very disappointing campaign after reaching the NCAA Tournament last season.

LSU spent most of the first half playing from behind against Mizzou, which shot just 29% in the frame. However, the Tigers were even worse at 25%, and they found themselves in a 35-29 deficit at the half.

Missouri struggled to maintain that lead, however. LSU retook the lead in the opening minutes of the second half, and it went on to expand upon it. The Tigers led by as much as 21 with less than five minutes to play, and while Mizzou would cut into that lead and even get it within three with four seconds to play after some impressive shooting down the stretch, it was too little, too late.

[autotag]Trae Hannibal[/autotag] led the way with 24 points to go with five rebounds and five assists and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] scored 10 as LSU went with an all-senior starting five. [autotag]Hunter Dean[/autotag] scored 12 with six rebounds in an elevated role, while [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] scored seven with 10 rebounds. [autotag]Mwani Wilkinson[/autotag] also got to start, finishing with four points.

Coming off the bench, [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] scored 14 while [autotag]Mike Williams III[/autotag] totaled 10.

LSU will be the No. 8 seed in the SEC Tournament in Nashville next week and will begin its run on Thursday against No. 9-seeded Mississippi State.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball cruises to road win against Vanderbilt

The Tigers have now won four of their last five and are ending the regular season with a lot of momentum.

The LSU men’s basketball team stayed hot on Saturday on the road against a struggling Vanderbilt team, winning 75-61 to move to 16-13 on the season and get back to .500 in SEC play at 8-8.

With the victory, the Tigers have now won four of their last five.

Despite playing on the road, LSU took control of the game early. It quickly jumped out to a 7-0 lead, and that trend continued throughout the first half.

The Tigers led by as much as 21 in the frame and took a commanding 42-22 lead to the locker room as [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] and [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] combined for 19 points in the first 20 minutes.

The Commodores opened the second half on a 14-7 run and cut the lead to 13, but they couldn’t keep the momentum on their side as LSU stretched its lead once again.

Another Vandy run cut the lead to 10, but it never got within single digits as the Tigers withstood the rally to hang on for a much-needed road win.

Wright ultimately led the team with 15 points, while Ward and [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] scored 10. LSU relied heavily on its bench, which provided 34 points led by Jalen Reed’s 13.

With two remaining games in the regular season, LSU’s next game will come on the road as it looks for a season sweep against Arkansas on Wednesday night.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball drops heartbreaker against Florida

LSU erased a 20-point second-half deficit, but it wasn’t enough to get a statement road win.

LSU’s men’s basketball team very nearly completed a remarkable comeback in Gainesville against Florida on Tuesday night.

After trailing by 20 points in the second half, the Tigers fought back to tie the game in the final minute. Trailing by two as the final seconds ticked away, guard [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] had a wide-open lane to the basket but rushed his shot, leaving it short as the Gators held on for an 82-80 win.

LSU had a nice start to the game offensively, but the Gators were even better. They sunk their first six shots and hit eight of their first 11, holding on to a slim 19-15 lead by the under-12 timeout in the first half.

Florida ultimately finished the half shooting 66.7%, stretching a 14-point lead heading into the locker room thanks to a buzzer-beater long two from guard Zyon Pullin.

LSU particularly struggled to defend Walter Clayton Jr., who had 14 points in the half. Will Baker led the Tigers with 13 points in the frame, but the team shot just 41.9%, though 5-of-12 three-point shooting helped them hang around.

Florida dominated early in the second half, leading 60-40 at one point. But the Gators went cold, and some clutch shooting from the Tigers got them back in the game, particularly [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] — who scored 12 for the night and 10 points in the second half.

The Tigers ultimately outshot Florida 51%-49%, but they left points at the charity stripe as they were just 13 of 21 on free throws. Wright and [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] ultimately led the team with 16 points each.

LSU missed opportunities to steal this one; a turnover down one with 25 seconds to go stands out. It also was dominated on the boards with a 43-29 rebounding margin

Now, the Tigers fall to 12-12 (4-7 SEC) after dropping their last three and six of their last seven. They’ll be back in action on Saturday with another tough road game against a ranked South Carolina team.

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Five takeaways from LSU men’s basketball’s home loss to Alabama

Here are five takeaway’s from LSU’s loss against Alabama on Saturday.

LSU picked up its fifth loss in its last six games on Saturday. Hosting Alabama, LSU lost 109-92.

LSU led 73-72 with 9:06 to go, but Alabama scored 38 points in the final nine minutes to finish the game on a 38-19 run.

This was the second meeting in two weeks between the two, with Alabama getting the best of LSU in Tuscaloosa on Jan, 27 with a 109-88 win.

LSU now sits at 12-11 on the year and 4-6 in conference play. Matt McMahon’s group will look to get back in the win column on Tuesday when LSU takes a trip to Gainesville.

But for now, here are five takeaways from LSU’s loss to Alabama.

PHOTOS: LSU men’s basketball tough stretch continues with home loss to Alabama

The Tigers have now lost five of their last six.

The LSU men’s basketball team was competitive for a while at home on Saturday against the No. 16-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, but despite trailing by just three at the half and even led with just over nine minutes to play, ‘Bama pulled away to a convincing 109-92 win.

It was another big game for [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag], who led the team with 24 points, and [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], who scored 20 in his return to the court. LSU shot 55% as a team in this one, but the Tide had an effective game as well.

Mark Sears and Latrell Wrightside Jr. each scored more than 20 points for Alabama, and coach Nate Oats’ team won the rebounding battle 43-31.

Here are the photos as LSU basketball has now lost five of its last six.

PHOTOS: Tennessee runs away against LSU men’s basketball in Knoxville

LSU falls to 12-10 on the season and 4-5 in SEC play.

LSU was hoping to get a winning streak going after its strong showing against Arkansas on Saturday, but that wasn’t in the cards for the Tigers.

Coach Matt McMahon’s team fell behind early against Tennessee, and though it rallied in the second half, it wasn’t able to recover against a Volunteers team that had a red-hot night from the floor.

They shot over 50% in the game, scoring 88 points in a 20-point victory. Dalton Knecht was particularly effective, scoring a game-high 27 points. LSU, meanwhile, only had two players score in double figures: [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] (16) and [autotag]Derek Fountain[/autotag] (11).

LSU drops to 12-10 (4-5 SEC), and it will return home to face another major test on Saturday as Alabama comes to town. The Tigers will look for revenge after a loss in Tuscaloosa earlier this season.

In the meantime, here are the photos from Wednesday night’s loss.

Instant Analysis: LSU overpowered in road loss to No. 6 Tennessee

The Tigers rallied in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to erase the big early hole they found themselves in on the road.

LSU’s men’s basketball team ultimately couldn’t keep the momentum from the Arkansas win going on the road against a top-10 opponent. The Tigers fell at Tennessee 88-68, dropping to 12-10 on the year and 4-5 in SEC play.

With [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] unavailable, LSU had about the worst start to the game possible. Tennessee jumped out to an early 13-0 lead, and while the Tigers would respond to cut the deficit to just six, they couldn’t hold off the Volunteers for long.

The Vols shot 58.1% with three players scoring in double figures, led by Dalton Knecht, and LSU struggled to keep up with a sub-40% shooting percentage as Tennessee raced out to a 50-27 halftime lead.

LSU would not go down without a fight in the second half, however. It trailed by 23 at the nine-minute mark, but a 13-0 run cut the Tennessee lead to just 10.

However, the Tigers never got it back within single digits as the Volunteers pulled away to a 20-point win in the final minutes after shooting above 50% for the game.

LSU had an encouraging performance on the boards, outrebounding the Vols 40-26 as [autotag]Trae Hannibal[/autotag] led the way with 11, but it shot just 41.4%. Only [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] (16 points) and [autotag]Derek Fountain[/autotag] (11) scored in double figures.

Tennessee, meanwhile, had four. LSU had particular difficulty containing Knecht, who went off for a game-high 27 points.

It’s a disappointing loss, but it’s one LSU can’t dwell on as it has another huge opportunity coming up on Saturday when it hosts Alabama, which is coming off a road loss to rival Auburn on Wednesday night.

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Matt McMahon praises ball movement against Arkansas

Matt McMahon credited the Tigers’ ball movement for the big victory.

On Saturday, LSU men’s basketball put a beatdown on the Arkansas Razorbacks with a 95-74 victory. The Tigers outscored Arkansas 45-30 in the first half and 50-44 in the second half as they made sure the game was never in jeopardy of being lost.

[autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] led the way for the Tigers, scoring 25 points in the win.

It was the fourth conference victory of the year for LSU and a great tune-up for the Tigers before they travel to Knoxville to take on the No. 5 Tennessee Volunteers next Wednesday. After the game, McMahon credited the Tigers’ ball movement for the big victory.

“I thought our efficiency was really good because of the unselfish play,” McMahon said per On3. “Big concern for us coming into the game was Arkansas was, I believe, fourth or fifth in getting to the free-throw line in the country. So they get there 33 times tonight but we got there 28 and made 25 of them because of the spacing and some strong drives that our players were making and the good decision-making.”

If LSU wants to keep winning conference games, they will need to distribute the ball the way they did against Arkansas.

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Will Baker credits teammates for hot start in win over Arkansas

Will Baker led the team with 25 points, converting on 9 of his 11 looks on Saturday.

LSU jumped out to a big early lead against Arkansas at home on Saturday, and it never looked back en route to a crucial 95-74 win that ended a three-game losing streak.

Forward [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] was a major reason for that hot start. Baker led the team with 25 points, making 9 of his 11 attempts from the field including a 7 of 8 showing in the second half. He was even effective from long range, attempting five threes and sinking four of them.

Baker credited his teammates for allowing him to get in the zone early.

“My teammates found me on a corner three,” he said, per On3’s Matthew Brune. “I got in a rhythm early and I definitely think that helped me. All credit to my teammates because they kept finding me when I was open. I just stepped in and shot it.”

Baker wasn’t the only Tiger who got hot from three-point range. The team shot 12 of 23 from downtown as a whole, and it had 17 assists overall in the win.

“We have a lot of talent on the team,” guard [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], who scored 20 coming off the bench, said. “We can spread it around. (Will) Baker can step out and shoot the three. We have a lot of three-point shooters. Mike Williams can shoot it. We have some shooters, so we just try space the floor out and attack.”

Baker concurred with Cook’s assessment.

“Like (Jalen) Cook said, we have shooters so that allows us to space the floor,” Baker said. “When you have threats like that it allows us to be able to drive and kick out to find more open looks. It just builds on itself. When one guy is a threat, he can drive and kick it to another shooter.”

The Tigers will hope that trend is one they can build on with a crucial road matchup against Tennessee coming up in the midweek.

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PHOTOS: LSU men’s basketball beats Arkansas 95-74 to end 3-game skid

The Tigers will now gear up for a critical road matchup against Tennessee.

The LSU men’s basketball team got back on track on Saturday at home against a struggling Arkansas team, ending a three-game skid with a convincing 95-74 win.

[autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] had a huge game, scoring 25 points on 9 of 11 shooting, while [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] scored 20 and Jordan Wright and [autotag]Mike Williams III[/autotag] each scored 13.

The Tigers shot north of 50% for the game and dominated throughout, holding a 15-point lead at the half. Arkansas never led after 2-0.

LSU will now prepare for a major opportunity as it hits the road to take on a Tennessee team that ranks in the top five nationally on Wednesday. For now, here are the photos from Saturday’s decisive win.