2/29/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


       BATON ROUGE - LSU will look to bounce back against the Texas A&M Aggies, after getting blasted by the Florida Gators on Wednesday night. The Tigers got just what the doctor ordered to start the healing, as they would have a fantastic game shooting from long range, Hitting 10-33 from behind the arc. Senior Skylar Mays would have a great second half to lead the team in scoring with 24 points. Javonte Smart would add 14 points. Not only did Tiger Fans get to celebrate a home victory, but also got to celebrate the incredible career of former LSU Point guard, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, (aka: Chris Jackson), as his number 35 Jersey was retired and hung up in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center rafters. 
       A&M would control the tip and take the lead quickly, as Ja Ja Chandler would make a three pointer. The score would stay 3-0 for the next two minutes, when Skylar Mays would make his first attempt from behind the three point arc to tie things up.
      At the 15:56 mark, the Tigers would lead 8-6. The score would remain 8-6 for the next three minute, as each team would trade scoreless possessions. Finally LSU would increase their lead to 11-6 with 11:59 left on the clock, as Emmitt Williams would make one of two free throw attempts and Darius Days would make a jumper.  Darius Days would hit a three pointer to give LSU a 16-11 lead with 9:00 to go in the half.
      The Tigers would then go on a 8-0 run over the next five minutes on the strength of two Javonte Smart three pointers, taking a 24-11 lead into the officials timeout with 3:20 left on the clock.  We would go to the halftime break with LSU up, 28-20.
       The Aggies would start the second half with the ball and would score to cut into the lead, as Quenton Jackson would bank in a layup. A minute later, the Tigers would get on the board with their first points of the second half with Skylar Mays canning a three from behind the arc. 31-22 Tigers at the 17:50 mark. 
      Over the next ten minutes, both teams would play even, scoring 18 points each, with LSU leading 49-40 with 8:22 to go in the contest.
      With 6: 37 left both teams would begin to hit from behind the three point arc. Savion Flagg would put one in from long range, then Skylar Mays would answer with one on the Tigers' next possession. Flagg would then quiet the crowd with his second straight three pointer to cut LSU's lead to 55-48.
      The Tigers would start to turn up their intensity and slowly begin to take control, as Skylar Mays would hit a three pointer, followed by a monster dunk by Emmitt Williams off of a A&M fast break turnover. Skylar Mays would add two free throws to give LSU a 62-48 lead with 1:31 to go in the contest. LSU add two more and earn a much needed win at home, as they would defeat Texas A&M, 64-50. 
      With the win, LSU is now 20-9 overall and 11-5 in SEC play. The Tigers have two regular season games remaining. Next up, they will travel to Fayetteville on Wednesday March 4th to take on Arkansas, then come home on Saturday, March 7th to face Georgia for Senior Day.
      

2/26/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!           




       GAINESVILLE, FL:  LSU would travel to Gainesville to rematch Florida in a huge SEC contest on Wednesday night. After a poor first half, the Tigers would have no second half comeback in them tonight, as the Gators simply outplayed LSU in ever phase of the game. The Tigers played sloppy and sluggish on offense throughout the night, as several starters would struggle badly.  Defensively, LSU seemed slow and flat footed the entire game, as the Gators played fast and executed well all night long, blowing out the Tigers, 81-66.                                   
      The Tigers would begin the first half as flat as a pancake, and found themselves quickly down 9-0 to an aggressive Florida Gators team that started the game with tremendous ball movement and red hot shooting.
      LSU wouldn't score their first points until Emmitt Williams would manage a dunk at the 16:32 mark. Over the next six minutes, Florida would outscore LSU, 20-14, for a commanding 29-16 lead with 9:50 to go in the first half.
      The Tigers would battle tough to get back into the game, but could only pull within ten points of the Gators as they just couldn't match Florida's intensity. The first half would end with Florida holding a 41-31 lead.
      The Gators scored 11 points off of six LSU turnovers during the first 20 minutes. Florida also dominated the Tigers down low, as they would outscore LSU, 34-14 in the paint. Trendon Watford would lead LSU in scoring at the break with nine points. Emmitt Williams added eight.      
      Both teams would start out trading baskets over the first three minutes of the second half,  until Florida would slowly start to pull away. Scottie Lewis would make a three pointer to give Florida a 55-39 lead at the 14:27 mark.
      With 10:21 to go in the game, Emmitt Williams, who lead the Tigers in scoring on the night with 25 points, would score six unanswered, doing all he could to keep the Tigers in the game. But LSU simply could find no answer on defense for the Gators' attack.
      Down 70-55 with 5:31 left on the game clock, James Bishop would come off the bench for LSU and score five straight to cut the lead to ten. The Tigers would then have a couple of opportunities to cut the Gators lead to single digits, but simply couldn't take advantage. LSU would go with out a basket during the last three minutes of the contest, only managing a couple of free throws. 
      A big part of the Tigers' trouble was the play of guard Skylar Mays, who all season long has been the heart and soul for LSU. It simply wasn't his night, as the team's senior leader who averages 16 points per game, finished with only three total points.  Trendon Watford played with great effort all night and would finish with a double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds. Darius Days (6 points) and Javonte Smart (8 points) both struggled.
      With the loss, LSU is now 19-9 overall, 10-5 in SEC play.     
      Next up, LSU will host Texas A&M on Feb. 29, Saturday at 11am in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. 




2/26/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!
                       

2/22/2020
Story Courtesy of: LSUsports.net




      COLUMBIA, South Carolina – The LSU Tigers put four starters in double figures and had three players with at least nine rebounds as the Tigers got back on the winning track on the road with an 86-80 win over South Carolina Saturday night at the Colonial Life Arena.
      The Tigers are 19-8 and 10-4 in the SEC, while South Carolina falls to 16-11 and 8-6 in the league. LSU helped its position for a double bye through the first two rounds of the SEC Tournament and now travels to Florida for a Wednesday night game with the Gators.
      Darius Days and Javonte Smart each scored 18 points with Days getting nine boards, while Trendon Watford had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Skylar Mays had 13 points, nine rebounds and six assists for LSU.
      Keyshawn Bryant had 15 points and 10 rebounds and Jermaine Couisnard had 15 points as well. AJ Lawson had 13 points and Maik Kotsar had 10 points.
      The Tigers built a 44-37 halftime advantage and quickly opened a 10-point lead when Watford hit a three-pointer 24 seconds in to make it 47-37 LSU. South Carolina cut the game to four at 49-45 before LSU went on a nice run getting buckets and defensive stops.
      Aundre Hyatt, who got his first LSU start in the game, hit a three to make it 52-45. After a free throw make by South Carolina, Charles Manning hit a three off a Mays pass, South Carolina missed and on LSU's next possession, Manning followed his own miss to get the offensive rebound and dropped it to Days for a layup to make it 57-46.
      South Carolina called time out and after a missed jumper and an offensive rebound, Days stole the ball. That possession ended in a three-pointer by Smart to push the advantage to 60-46 with 14:32 to play.
      The lead would hover from 11 to 16 over the next nine minutes before a layup by Manning and a layup by Watford pushed the LSU lead to 19 points, 77-58, with 5:11 left in the game.
      The Gamecocks made a run and got the game down to four in the final minute but LSU made six-of-eight free throws to ice the game.
      LSU shot 44.1 percent for the game (26-of-59) including nine treys and 25-of-31 at the free throw line. South Carolina hit 28-of-75 for the game (37.3 percent) with nine treys and 15-of-25 from the free throw line. LSU has now won four league road games in seven tries with two remaining. LSU has won 13 road games in the last two seasons.




2/22/2020
Story Courtesy of: LSUsports.net

​

2/18/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!
     
       The Tigers, losers of three of their last four, will need to play a near perfect ball game Tuesday night, as they host #10 ranked Kentucky, in a huge SEC match up. Unfortunately, they didn't as they fell to the Wildcats, 79-76, in a game that saw the Tigers leave several points off the board with missed easy second chance opportunities under the goal, and a poor night at the charity stripe. 
       Kentucky would win the opening tip and score first on a quick lay up by EJ Montgomery.  LSU would come right back and answer as Darius Days would tie the game at 2-2. At the 17:01 mark, with the Tigers up 6-4, Tyrese Maxey would make a driving lay up and draw a foul on Days. Maxey would can the free throw to give the Wildcats a one point lead.  Charles Manning Jr. would make a three point shot to put LSU up 11-9, with 14:24 to go.  Two minutes later, with exactly 12:00 left, Emmanuel Quickley would hit a three pointer to give Kentucky a 16-12 leading into the officials timeout. Both teams would continue to run back and forth at each other with Kentucky doing just enough to hang on to a 18-16 lead. With 8:14 to go in the half, Charles Manning Jr. would bang a three pointer to electrify the crowd, giving the Tigers the lead back, 19-18. Kentucky would answer right back with a quick basket. But the crowd would expolde again as Trendon Watford would make a three pointer seconds later to give the Tigers the lead right back, 22-20, with 7:35 left in the half.  At the 4:11 mark, Darius Days would score to put LSU up, 26-22. Both teams would continue to trade baskets with LSU holding on to 28-26 lead, but with 1:02 on the clock, Emmanuel Quickley would steal the ball from Javonte Smart. Then, with  31 seconds left, Ashton Hagans would make a three from the top of the key, regaining the lead for Kentucky, as they would lead at the half, 29-28.  
       LSU would lead off the second half with Skylar Mays scoring two on a goaltending call on Kentucky. The Wildcats would answer with a three pointer on their first trip down the court. From there, Kentucky would open up a 37-30 lead with 18:08 on the clock. Over the next seven minutes, LSU would outscore the Wildcats, 16-15, but would still trail Kentucky, 52-46.  Over the next two minutes the Tigers would begin to miss easy shots under the basket, while Kentucky would continue to play well and take advantage, as they would build a 58-49 lead with 9:13 to go in the contest. Trendon Watford would bank in a lay up at the 7:54 mark to pull LSU to within, 58-51. From there, the teams would begin to trade turnovers.  The Tigers would continue to miss easy attempts under the basket and wide open looks from behind the arc, while  Kentucky would be Kentucky, making the Tigers pay by  extending their lead to 71-57 with only 3:47 remaining. LSU would refuse to quit, as Darius Days would can a three pointer with 2:18 remaining to cut the Wildcats lead to, 73-64. The Tigers would then go on a 10-5 run to cut the Wildcats lead down to four, 78-74, with 18.9 seconds remaining. But, the late twelve point deficit would be too much for LSU to overcome, as Kentucky would would seal the 79-76 win at the free throw line. 
      Senior leader Skylar Mays would lead the Tigers in scoring with 17 points. Darius Days would add a double-double, scoring 13 and grabbing 11 rebounds. Trendon Watford would contribute 10 points on the night. The Tigers would finish 26-66 from the floor for a dismal 39.4% and 7-20 from behind the arc for 35%. LSU also had a poor night from the free throw line which was the difference in the ball game, as they were 17-24 from the line for 70%.  The Tigers out-rebounded the Wildcats on the night, 45-33, but simply missed too many easy second chance opportunities in the paint. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 18-8 overall (9-4 in the SEC).  The Tigers have dropped four of their last five contest. 
      Next up, LSU will travel to Columbia, South Carolina to take on the Gamecocks on Saturday at 5pm on ESPN2. 
       

2/15/2020
Story Courtesy of: LSUsports.net




       TUSCALOOSA – LSU scored 53 second half points and shot 56 percent in the second half as the Tigers tried to rally from 18 points down against Alabama Saturday in Coleman Coliseum.
      The Tigers were able to get the game to one point with 1:35 to play but the Crimson Tide had the answers in the final 90 seconds to score an 88-82 win.
      LSU drops to 18-7 and 9-3 in the SEC with Alabama now at 14-11 and 6-6 in the league.
      The game turned late in the first half as the teams went to the final media time out tied at 25-25. Alabama outscored LSU, 15-4, over the final 4:08 of the half to go to the dressing room up 40-29.
      The Tide opened the second half with a 19-12 advantage to open up the 18-point lead with 14:08 to play at 59-41.
      Down 14 with 5:47 to play, the Tigers began to turn the momentum back the other way with Darius Days, Trendon Watford and Skylar Mays all getting easy buckets to put the game to eight, 73-65, with 4:54 to play. After an Alabama bucket pushed it to 75-65, Watford hit a three and Mays, after an Alabama miss, scored to put the Tide lead to 75-70 with 3:29 to go.
      After an exchange of points left it 77-72 for Alabama, Marlon Taylor stole an inbounds and got it to Javonte Smart for a three to cut the game to 77-75 with still two minutes to play. Alabama made two free throws to make it 79-75 and then Mays hit a three-pointer to make it 79-78 with 1:35 left.
      But the Tide was able to get two three-pointers that pushed the margin out to a win for Alabama.
      Mays led LSU with his third straight game of 20 points or more game, scoring 24 points with nine rebounds, three assists and three steals. Watford had 18 points and Emmitt Williams had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.
      Kira Lewis Jr., had 27 points to lead Alabama with Jaden Shackelford getting 26. Galin Smith had 10 points. Herbert Jones had six points and 17 rebounds.
      Charles Manning Jr., returned to action for LSU playing 15 minutes with two points, three rebounds, an assist and a block.
      LSU was 19-of-34 from the field in the second half with seven treys. For the game, LSU shot 43.3 percent (29-67) with 11 treys and 13-of-17 at the line. Alabama was 28-of-66 (42.4%) with 13 treys and 19-of-26 at the line. LSU out rebounded the Tide, 44-42.
      LSU returns home for an 8 p.m. game on Tuesday night against Kentucky. Tickets are on sale at LSUTix.net and during normal business hours at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


LSU Head Coach Will Wade Quotes:


       Openining statement...
    "It was a good comeback by our guys, but I thought the second half rebounding was the difference for Alabama. Herb Jones had 5 of them (offensive rebounds), (Alabama) had 10 of them. In the second half we obviously did a terrible job on (Kira) Lewis and (Jaden) Shakelford just played tremendously well. He was the leading scorer when they played us at our place as well. I give Alabama credit. They played really well and deserved to win. They did a great job on the backboards against us to keep it close. They did a great job at the free throw line. I always talk about when we play them, you can't lose the 3-point line and the free throw line. You can lose one of the two and beat them, but you can't lose both of them. If you look at the free throw line, the difference was 6 points and the difference in the game was 6 points so that's where we got beat. It's really that simple"


       On Herb Jones' performance...
    "He's an absolute warrior. I see why he's a winner. He's a great kid. Him and (Trendon) Watford are best friends. He's ready to come out there and do that for his team. He'll be what they need to get into the NCAA tournament. Tremendous player"

​

2/11/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!      
     
      Baton Rouge::  LSU would go into Tuesday night's  home contest with Missouri looking to bounce back from a tough road trip. A road trip that saw the Tigers lose two heartbreaking games to Vanderbilt and Auburn. Missouri would come into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and play the Tigers extremely well, giving LSU all they could handle, but the Tigers would prevail, 82-78 thanks to an inspiring second half comeback.
      LSU would come out and play the entire first half like they didn't have a heartbeat. Just like in the previous two games, the Tigers continue to have trouble defending the three point shot as well as shooting from behind the arc themselves.  Missouri would make 7-13 three pointers, while LSU would go 0-9. The Bayou Bengals would be very fortunate to only trail 43-37 at the half, as they would out score Missouri 8-4 over the final 1:28 of the half to finally show some signs of life. Mizzou would out play LSU in every phase of the game, as the Tigers played perhaps their poorest half of basketball this season. LSU would only shoot 10-23 from the floor for 43.5%.  Thankfully their free throw shooting would keep them in the ball game, going 17-20 from the charity stripe. Missouri also out hustled the Tigers on the boards in the first 20 minutes, out rebounding them, 19-11. Skylar Mays would lead LSU in scoring in the first half with 11 points. While Darius Days would add nine, and Emmitt Williams would contribute seven points late in the half.
      LSU would need to come out in the second half and play with a sense of urgency. That they did. The Tigers would race out to a 12-4 run to cut the Mizzou lead to one, 47-46 at the 16:52 mark. Two minutes later we would find the score tied up at 49-49 after Darius Days would bank in a lay up. From there Missouri would continue to give the Tigers all they could handle, going on a 15 to 7 run and a 64-56 lead with exactly 10 minutes to go. The game would continue to go back and forth as each team would take turns making small runs at each other. With 5:29 on the clock, Skylar Mays would hit a jumper to even the score at 69-69. Missouri's Mitchell Smith would then miss a three point attempt, giving LSU an opportunity to take the lead. The Bengal Tigers would finally take advantage and begin to swing momentum their way.  Darius Days would bang a three pointer giving LSU their first lead since very early in the ball game, 72-69.  A lead that they wouldn't relinquish again.  From here on you can see the Tiger players start to feed off of the roar of the crowd, turning up their intensity and playing like a team battling to break a two game losing streak. With 1:54 left to go, Skylar Mays would score to put the Tigers up by five, 76-71. LSU would then put the game away at the free throw line.
      All five starters would score in double digits, with Skylar Mays leading the Tigers in scoring with 23 points. Darius Days would register a double-double, with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Javonte Smart finish with 15 points, while Emmitt Williams and Trendon Watford would add 11 each. LSU would finish the game shooting 47% from the floor, 3-12 from three point land, and 29-34 from the free throw line. With the win, the Tigers are now 18-6 overall (9-2 in SEC).
      Next up, LSU will travel to Tuscaloosa to take on Alabama on Saturday at 3pm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


LSU vs. Missouri Basketball
Press Conference
February 11, 2019


       LSU Head Coach Will Wade Opening statement...
    “Good win. We just needed to find a way to win at the end of the day. Missouri is always a tough matchup for us as physical as they are. They make you play a lot of one-on-one. We just needed to find a way to win, and at the end of the day that’s what we did. I thought we did a better job guarding in the second half. We did a better job on the glass. We only had three offensive rebounds in the first half. We did a better job driving the ball. We were 10-of-14 in the first half from two and 0-of-9 from three. We did a great job of winning the free-throw line which is what we do. The game kind of went to our formula and got the stops and got done what we needed to get done. At the end of the day, we just need to win. Rough week and we needed to find a way to win. I understand we need to play better than we did today, but the goal was to win and we won. Now we’ve got to get better to go back on the road and play better on the road.”


       On the team’s energy level in the first half...
    “I just thought our defensive energy was low. I thought they played harder than we did in the first half. I thought we were able to turn it on in the second half which is not easy to do, but yeah, I thought our energy was a little bit low.”


       On if Javonte Smart’s nine-point stretch in the second half was the turning point...
    “I thought he did a really good job in the second half. I thought (Darius) Days did a great job on the glass in the second half. When Javonte’s aggressive and getting downhill and making those floaters, he’s very, very good.”


       On Darius Days’ 20-point and 10-rebound performance...
    “When he’s not in foul trouble, that’s what he can do every game. But he puts himself in tough spots and then he gets tough calls a lot of the time. When he’s not in foul trouble, he’s capable of doing that every game for us. I’m really proud of him. That’s back-to-back really good games for him. It’s kind of been up and down for him. The balance of our team showed again tonight. We had five guys in double figures. We’ve got to get more from our bench. Hopefully we’ll have Charles (Manning Jr.) back on Saturday. We’ll need him back bad because we need some help on our bench. I though Marshall Graves played really good minutes for us tonight. I thought he was probably our best guy off the bench tonight because he was solid, but we need some help. It’s going to be hard to keep winning with just five guys. Our bench guys need to step up and help us.”


       LSU Guard Skylar Mays On the slow start to the game…
    “Missouri deserves the credit. They’re a great defensive team. They made us play a lot of one-on-one and we play our best basketball when we can get the ball moving and attack closeouts, but we were able to figure it out and score enough points to win.”


       On how important it is for LSU to get to the free-throw line…
    “That’s what we do. Like people have said before, we have four monsters who are great on the offensive glass. It’s easy to shoot with confidence knowing that your teammates are going to get it. We take pride in getting by guys, being unselfish, attacking closeouts and taking high percentage shots.”


       LSU Guard Javonte Smart On scoring nine straight in the second half…
    “I kind of came out slow today. Skylar Mays, sitting right over there, told me to get going and that the team needs my energy. I tried to give that and get the victory.”


       LSU Forward Darius Days On his game-sealing shot…
    “That was more of a prayer than anything. It went in though, and the whole crowd was into it. I feel like we gained momentum, ran with it, and won the game.”


       On what Javonte (Smart) brought to the game…
    “He gave us a spark and we loaded up. We talked about it and he just told us to keep going. Skylar (Mays) and Javonte (Smart) are our leaders and we’re going to follow them to the end. Nothing crazy about it. Follow them, do what we’re supposed to do, and win the game.”


2-11-2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!

2-8-2020
Article Courtesy of: LSUsports.net
      
     
      AUBURN, Alabama – J'Von McCormick's short floater in the lane dropped through with 0.1 remaining in overtime to give No. 11 Auburn a 91-90 win over No. 18 LSU Saturday at the Auburn arena.
      The Tigers are now 17-6 on the season, 8-2 in the league tied with both Auburn and Kentucky. The Wildcats defeated Tennessee on Saturday as well.
      McCormick's bucket erased a comeback for the LSU Tigers in overtime with Auburn up by seven with 1:51 to play.
      From there, Javonte Smart hit a three-pointer to make it four at 86-82. Auburn got a field goal and Skylar Mays made two free throws to keep the margin at four, 88-84, with 52 seconds to play. LSU fouled and J'Von McCormick missed two free throws that allowed on the other end for Mays to draw a foul and make two free throws to make it 88-86 with 31 seconds left.           LSU fouled Samir Doughty who made just one free throw of two to make it 89-86 with 37 seconds. Mays drove the lane and scored to make the game 89-88 with 16 seconds to play. Out of an LSU timeout, the Tigers' Mays was able to get a steal in the backcourt and got the ball to Emmitt Williams for a dunk that gave LSU a 90-89 lead with 9.0 remaining on the clock.        LSU took its final timeout before Auburn's final possession and McCormick took the ball and drove in for the winning shot.
      Mays led LSU with a strong performance scoring 30 points with seven rebounds, eight assists and three steals in 42 minutes. Mays was 8-of-16 from the field with four treys and 10-of-10 from the free throw line.
      All five starters were in double figures for LSU with Darius Days getting 19 points with three treys, Trendon Watford and Smart 12 each and Emmitt Williams 11. Days and Marlon Taylor also had seven rebounds to pace LSU.
      Doughty led Auburn with 26 points on 10-of-19 shooting with five treys and McCormick finished with 23 points and nine assists on 7-of 15 shooting with five treys. Devan Cambridge came off the bench to play 29 minutes and score 21 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the arc.           LSU shot 50 percent for the first half with seven treys in building a 42-30 advantage. The Tigers held Auburn to just 10-of-33 from the floor with five treys.
       But in the second half, Auburn was able to knock down nine threes and build a 28-11 advantage on the board, including 12-3 on the offensive boards. Auburn was able to get the extra possessions, often cashing in.
      LSU held a 69-61 lead with 1:53 left in regulation, but Auburn was able to rally back tying the game with 19 seconds left in regulation at 74-74 on a Doughty layup. LSU had the final possession of regulation but Mays' jumper bounced off the rim sending the game to the extra session.
      For the game, LSU shot 31-of-66 for 47 percent with 12 treys and 16-of-20 at the free throw line. Auburn was 30-of-74 overall for the game for 40.5 percent, but 6-of-7 in the overtime period. Auburn made 18 three-pointers and 13-of-20 at the free throw line.
      Overall, Auburn had a 46-36 rebound advantage and 17-8 on the offensive boards. Both teams had 10 second chance points and LSU had a 38-20 lead in points in the paint. LSU committed just eight turnovers in the game.
      LSU returns home for a Tuesday night 8 p.m. game against Missouri at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Tickets are available at LSUTix.net.


2-8-2020
Article Courtesy of LSUsports.net

2/5/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
​Da Boot Sports!


             The Tigers went into Nashville on a ten game winning streak Wednesday night to take on the 8-13 (0-8 in SEC) Vanderbilt Commodores. Vandy has lost their last 26 SEC games, last win coming on March 3rd, 2018. Tigers, please be ready for this one.. This is the kind of trap game that LSU needs to be aware of, as they may be looking ahead to their huge match up with Auburn this weekend.  The Tigers would feel the sting of the Commodores surprising upset victory, as they would fall to Vandy, 99-90. 
      LSU would control the opening tip, and score first on a Darius Days layup. Vandy would answer with a three-pointer by Dylan Disu to put the Commodores up 3-2 early. At the 16:04 mark, Trendon Watford would score to tie the game at 7-7, and draw a foul. Watford would can the free throw to put the Tigers up, 8-7. Both teams would go on to play a fast pace ball game, in a close, competitive first half.  Trendon Watford would make two free throws to tie the game at 20-20 with 10:34 to go. Vanderbilt would use their three-point shooting to hold a slim lead throughout the first half. Maxwell Evans would catch fire for the Commodores hitting three-pointer after three-pointer.  LSU would battle back as they had to raise their play level to keep up with the Vandy arc attack. With 7:25 left in the half, Emmitt Williams would tip in a shot to give the Tigers their first lead since early in the game, 29-28. But Vandy would answer with another three-pointer to quickly regain control. Over the next seven minutes, the Commodores would outscore LSU, 22 to 8, Taking a 13 point lead, 50-37, with 1:51 to go.  Skylar Mays, who was still scoreless in the ball game, stepped up his leadership and play over the last two minutes of the half as his first basket would start a Tiger comeback.  Mays would score seven of LSU's last ten points of the half, as they would continue to battle a Vanderbilt team who would play inspiring basketball all night long. The first half would end with Vanderbilt up, 52-47.  Maxwell Evans who avaerage 16 points a game, would go to the locker room with a team leading 25 points. (8-13 from the floor, 5-7 for the arc, 4-4 from the charity line).  It was also the first time the Commodores have scored 50 points in a half all season.  Emmitt Williams would lead the Tigers with 15 points at the break, while Trendon Watford would add 14. 
      The second half would pick up right where we left off in the first. Both teams battling back and forth at a face pace, with Vandy doing just enough to maintain their lead.  Maxwell Evans would continue to hurt LSU with his three-point shooting.  With 14:11 left, Jovante Smart would hit a rare LSU three-pointer to pull the Tigers within one, 71-70.  But the same script would follow, as Vandy would stay a step or two ahead of the Tigers to increase their lead. With 7:56 to go, Jordan Wright would score to put the Commodores up, 80-74. LSU would then go on a 9-0 run to capture their first lead of the second half. 83-80. Finally, it looked like the Tigers had finally taken the lead for good, and lowly Vandy would cave in and give up. Unfortunately, that wouldn't happen. The Commodores would come right back scoring eight straight to regain the lead and control of the game. This 8-0 Vandy run seemed to take the wind out of LSU's sails, as the Vanderbilt players seemed to be re-energized and full of energy, as if they could sense LSU struggling to slow them down and to score to keep up. Vanderbilt would outscore the Tigers, 13 to 7 the rest of the way, upsetting the #18 ranked LSU, and snapping their 26 game SEC losing streak. This may be labelled the biggest upset of the SEC basketball season. Will Wade simply couldn't find a way to stop or slow down Saben Lee (33 points) or Maxwell Evans (31 points).
      The upset loss drops LSU to 17-5 overall and 8-1 in the SEC.  Trendon Watford lead the Tigers in scoring on the night, with a career high 26 points. Emmitt Williams would put up another double-double, with 24 points and 11 rebounds. Skylar Mays and Javonte Smart would both add 15 points each. The Tigers shot 46.8% from the floor, but continued to struggle from three point range, as they would only go 4-18 from behind the arc.  The Tigers also left eight points at the line as they would shoot 28-36 from the charity stripe. LSU needs to simply put this one behind them and move forward. 
      Next up for the LSU is a trip to Auburn to take on the #11 ranked Tigers on Saturday at 11:00am, ESPN... 

2/1/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!



       BATON ROUGE:: The Tigers were looking to extend their winning streak to ten in a row Saturday morning, at home, against the Ole Miss Rebels, Black Bears, or Land Sharks which ever name they choose to be called for the contest, (So ridiculous). This is the second time in two weeks that these teams have squared off, as LSU defeated Ole Miss in Oxford on January 18th, 80-76.      LSU would control the opening tip and take a 1-0 lead as Trendon Watford would make one of two free throws. Ole Miss would answer quickly as Devontae Shuler would can a three-pointer, 3-1 Rebels. The game pace really picked up as both teams would push the ball down the floor and take quick attempts at a basket. Jovante Smart would bank in a lay up to tie the score at 9-9 with 16:34 to play in the half. From there, LSU would begin to dominate the Land Sharks, going on a 23 to 2 run over the next ten minutes. With 5:38 on the cock, Ole Miss would finally break their scoring drought, as Sammy Hunter would dunk for two points to cut the Tigers' lead to, 32-13. Over the next three minutes, LSU would cool off offensively, but keep up the heat on defense, as they could only manage six points over the next four minutes, but limited the Black Bears to only three, for a 38-16 lead with 1:45 to go. The teams would trade free throws over the last 44 seconds of the period, locking the halftime score at, LSU 40, Ole Miss 20. Trendon Watford was the scoring leader for the Tigers in the first half, putting up 11 points, while Emmitt Williams added nine. The Tigers out rebounded the Rebels/Black Bears/Land Sharks, 22 to 11, and held Ole Miss to 25% (7-28) shooting from the floor, while LSU went 12-20 for 60%, adding 15 more from the charity stripe.
      Ole Miss would start the second half in a blaze, turning up their intensity, and go on a 12-0 run to quickly trim LSU's 20 point lead to eight, 40-32 at the 16:42 mark. Darius Days finally put the Tigers on the board in the second half, finger rolling the ball into the basket to put LSU up by ten, 42-32 at the 15:49 mark timeout. With the Black Bears raising their level of play, the Tigers began to match their intensity. Playing without the services of Skylar Mays for much of the second half due to foul trouble, LSU still managed to out score the Rebels, 19-9 over the next nine minutes, as the score would stand at 61-43. Darius Days would make a three-pointer, increasing the Tigers' lead to 64-43 with 6:51 to play. At the 2:00 mark, LSU would hold a 72-57 lead. After a few more horrible phantom calls, by a officiating crew, who seemed to have trouble calling a good ball game today, the Tigers finished off the Ole Miss Rebels/Black Bears/Land Sharks, (whatever they are), 73-63, in a game that wasn't as close as the final score would indicate.
      Javonte Smart would lead the Tigers in scoring with 21 points. Trendon Watford would add 13 points, while Marvin Taylor would come off the bench to record a double-double, with 13 points & 11 rebounds. LSU would lead by as much as 24 points, as they pretty much dominated Ole Miss throughout the contest. With the Victory, LSU has now won 10 straight games, and still sits on top of the SEC at 8-0, 17-4 overall. Ole Miss falls to 10-11 overall (1-7 in SEC).
      Next up, the Tigers will travel to Nashville to play Vanderbilt on Feb. 5th, then head to the plains of Auburn to battle the Tigers, on Feb. 8th. LSU will then return home to face Missouri on Feb. 11th.


2-1-2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!
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LSU Basketball vs. Ole Miss
February 1, 2020
LSU Head Coach Will Wade


      Opening statement::::
    “I thought we played a great first half. I thought we came out with great energy, great enthusiasm. Second half, obviously, wasn’t as good. I thought the way we ended the first half hurt us. We let them go on a 4-0 run. We had some turnovers. In the second half we weren’t nearly as good, but I thought Javonte (Smart) made plays when we needed him to. I thought Marlon (Taylor) made some huge plays and some big plays as well. It was a good team win. At the end of the day we’re 8-0 in the league. I think it’s the first time in 40 years, something like that. It’s obviously not very easy to do and you’ve got to give credit to our guys. We have to play better. We’re going to have to play more consistently moving forward. We have a big week ahead, starting with Vanderbilt on the road.”


      On the early second-half woes…
    “We missed a few layups at the beginning. This was different. The Alabama game, we shot a bunch of threes to start the second half. This game we still shot a bunch of shots inside. We missed some shots inside. Our ball-screen coverage – we let them get a little more comfortable where they had some cleaner looks to start the second half. I think it was a combination of both, but give Mississippi credit. They could have folded and not played well in the second half, but they came out ready to play.”


       On if this year’s team is similar to last year’s…
    “We’ll see. We’ve got to keep our stride. You look at it – three of our four losses are by two points and we had the lead in the last minute of every single one of those two-point losses. We’ve obviously won a lot of close games too so all that stuff just evens out. It just so happened it evened out in conference for us instead of out of conference. We have a long way to go. If we want to have a special season, we’ve got to be more dominant on both sides of the ball. We’ve got to value each possession more. We’ve got to be cleaner with what we’re doing. We’re in a good spot, but there’s a lot of time left, there’s a lot of season left and we’ve got to continue to improve and continue to get better. I think time will tell, basically, how much everything mirrors each other.”


LSU vs. Ole Miss
Press Conference
February 1, 2020




      LSU Forward Trendon Watford On the early start…
   “We always get up early throughout the week and come in here and do skill work, so waking up early was not really a change for us. Coach (Will Wade) told us to go out there and have energy, so that was the biggest thing.”


      On defending shots…
    “It is a tough thing to finish through contact. Tyree (Breein) is a great player, so we just tried to make it tough for him and finish on the glass. You have me, Emmitt (Williams) and (Darius) Days down there, so it is hard to finish through us.”


        LSU Guard Marlon Taylor On the early start…
    “We prepared the right way. We live for games like this.”


       On the energy playing offense and defense…
     “Today was just my day. Each game is someone’s night.”
       LSU Guard Javonte Smart On scoring in the second half…
   “We just stayed in attack mode. Coach just told us to stay in attack mode coming out of halftime.”
       On coming out of halftime and holding the lead…
    “We just came out with energy. There was a lack of energy coming out of halftime. They had some big shots. We just try to bring the energy to bring the team back up.”




2-1-2020
Da Boot Sports!