After starting the basketball campaign 14-1 and 2-1 in the SEC, the wheels have completely come off for the LSU men’s basketball program. Will Wade’s team is 2-6 overall and 2-5 in SEC play since that day.
For the second game in a row, the Tigers found themselves down 20+ points to a team they shouldn’t struggle with as they have. Once again the Tigers came storming back to get within five before the Vanderbilt Commodores ran away with it again.
The well-oiled machine that we saw for the majority of the season is a shell of their former selves. Rotations on defense are slow, the timing on closeouts is off. Not to mention they are trying to create off the bounce rather than get into their sets. Too many sloppy turnovers and contested three-point shots. Overall, the team just looks out of rhythm and Wade addressed it after the game.
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“It’s hard to be confident when you’ve lost six out of seven,” Wade said in his postgame press conference. The head coach understands that this team is lacking confidence at this point. “I mean look, we’ve got to inject a little confidence in our guys and we’ve got to get back to certainly playing better than we are now.”
It isn’t just one side of the floor that has been the issue for the Purple and Gold. Sloppy play at both ends is exacerbated by the fact that they aren’t healthy right now. They recently got Darius Days back but Xavier Pinson sat once again as he tries to recover from the knee injury suffered in their first matchup with the Tennessee Vols.
“Some of its health, but we can’t blame it all on that. Everybody’s got some issues. We didn’t get an offensive rebound in the first half, that’s an effort issue. We don’t follow the details on the scouting report. Give up 11 threes to two of their best shooters, that’s a detail issue. So it’s a little bit of both”
The good news for LSU is that their next game comes against Texas A&M, the only team the Tigers have beaten in their last six chances. The Bayou Bengals travel to College Station on Tuesday, where Wade will try once again to get his 100th career win at LSU.
Wade is current 99-46 and 50-29 in SEC play over his five seasons on the Bayou. LSU has won the last nine games and all four road games against the Aggies since Wade took over for Johnny Jones in 2017.
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