Tag: Will Baker

Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball rolls against Arkansas to end losing streak

The Tigers ended a three-game skid with a convincing home win against the struggling Razorbacks.

LSU’s men’s basketball ended a three-game skid in SEC play on Saturday at home, beating Arkansas 95-74 in a morning showdown as the Tigers move to 12-9 overall and 4-4 in league play.

LSU had a red-hot start offensively, hitting 8 of its first 9 shots from the field and five of its first six threes. A lot of that production came from [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag], who was dominant in the half and scored 17 points on 7 of 8 shooting including 3 of 4 from three-point range.

The Tigers stretched out a lead as big as 21 points, but they allowed Arkansas to cut that deficit down before half. The Hogs ended the period on a 6-0 run, but they still faced a 45-30 deficit heading into the locker room.

The second half was more of the same for LSU, which managed to stretch its lead out as wide as 28 points. Baker finished with 25 points, hitting 9 of his 11 shots from the field, while [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag] scored 20 and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] added 13.

The Tigers managed to recapture some momentum heading into a crucial road matchup on Wednesday night against a Tennessee team that currently ranks fifth in the nation.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball’s comeback bid falls short at No. 16 Auburn

A 21-2 LSU run in the second half wasn’t enough to erase a big deficit.

The Tigers made a valiant second-half comeback effort against Auburn on Saturday night, but it wasn’t enough in a 93-78 loss on the road.

It looked like things were going to get ugly in Neville Arena at first. LSU found itself down 17 at halftime, and AU led by as much as 28 in the second half. A 21-2 Tigers run flipped the script of the game, and they cut the lead to single digits, but it wasn’t ultimately enough.

LSU shot just 42.4% for the game, though [autotag]Trae Hannibal[/autotag] and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] each scored 18 points, while [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] scored 13 and [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] scored 12. It was a sloppy game for the offense, which turned the ball over 17 times.

The loss interrupts the Tigers’ four-game losing streak. They fall to 10-6 on the year and 2-1 in SEC play. LSU will be back in action on Wednesday when it hosts an Ole Miss team that’s 15-1 on the year.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball ends non-conference play on a high note vs. Northwestern State

The Tigers’ offense came up big in a beatdown against the Demons.

Non-conference play didn’t exactly go according to plan for the Tigers, but they wrapped up their slate in a nice way against a struggling Northwestern State team on Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

It was a textbook offensive game from LSU in a 96-55 win. The Tigers shot 61% from the field for the game and had six players score in double figures.

True freshman guard [autotag]Mike Williams III[/autotag] was the star, scoring 20 points. [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] wasn’t too far behind him, scoring 17 in the win, and it was another notable performance from [autotag]Jalen Cook[/autotag], who scored 13 points in his third appearance of the season.

Northwestern State, meanwhile, had a ton of issues on offense, shooting below 40% as a team while turning the ball over 20 times. Despite the rebounding margin being relatively even, the Demons struggled to defend the interior, giving up 50 points in the paint.

After taking care of business and moving to 8-5 on the year, LSU will now begin SEC play with a big-time matchup as it hits the road to take on Texas A&M on Jan. 6.

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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: 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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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball ends skid against North Texas in Charleston Classic

The Tigers held on to beat the Mean Green and snap a two-game losing streak on Friday morning.

After an embarrassing loss to Nicholls was compounded by a blown 15-point second-half lead in the opener against Dayton in the Charleston Classic on Thursday, LSU’s men’s basketball team ended its two-game skid in the consolation bracket against North Texas on Friday morning, holding on to win 66-62.

The Tigers held a one-point lead at the half but had to continue to battle in the second. They ultimately prevailed thanks to another very strong offensive performance as the team shot 50% from the field for the game.

[autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] once again led the way offensively for LSU, scoring 16 points. [autotag]Derek Fountain[/autotag] (14 points) and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] (12 points) also scored in double figures.

Defensively, LSU held North Texas to 31.7% shooting, and despite turning the ball over 13 times compared to the Mean Green’s 12, the Tigers did a better job turning those mistakes into points the other way.

They did allow three North Texas players to score in double figures including guard [autotag]Jason Edwards[/autotag], who led the way with a game-high 22 points.

2-2 is not where LSU hoped it would be at this point in the season, but the Tigers managed to stop the bleeding. Now, it will face the winner of Towson and Wake Forest in its final game in Charleston on Sunday.

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Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball falls to Dayton on last-second heartbreaker in Charleston Classic opener

The Tigers squandered a major opportunity on Thursday evening in Charleston.

LSU’s men’s basketball team looked like it was going to bounce back from the loss to Nicholls in tremendous fashion with a win over Dayton for nearly 40 minutes on Thursday afternoon, but a gutsy comeback and last-second go-ahead three gave the Flyers the 70-67 win in the quarterfinal round of the Charleston Classic.

After a tightly contested first half that saw the Tigers take a 32-30 lead to the locker room, they stretched that lead to as much as 15 with under 10 minutes to play in the game. But Dayton went on a 17-2 run to get back in the game, and Nate Santos’ shot in the final seconds proved to be the game-winner as a Carlos Stewart three fell short at the buzzer.

LSU finished the game shooting above 50% as a team, but it wasn’t as efficient down the stretch and had eight second-half turnovers.

[autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] was a bright spot, leading the team with 16 points, while [autotag]Tyrell Ward[/autotag] scored 12 and [autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] scored 10. Defensively, LSU held the Flyers under 40% shooting but struggled to contain stars Santos (19 points), Javon Bennett (16) and Koby Brea (13).

It was an excellent opportunity to earn a win over a possible tournament team, but now the 1-2 Tigers will have to look elsewhere to start rebuilding their resume. They will be back in action on Friday morning against North Texas, which lost 53-52 against St. John’s. at 10:30 a.m. CT.

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