Kim Mulkey addresses whether outside drama distracted LSU against Middle Tennessee

Kim Mulkey shot down the idea that LSU may have been distracted in the NCAA Tournament due to outside noise surrounding the team. Mulkey recently addressed an article that is set to come out from the Washington Post that she called a “hit piece.”

The Tigers played a second round matchup Sunday against Middle Tennessee but looked a bit sluggish to start things out. In fact, they trailed 36-32 at halftime and an upset looked like a real possibility.

MTSU expanded the lead as much as 41-32 before LSU woke up and began to mount its comeback. The Tigers outscored the Blue Raiders 28-7 over the final eight minutes of the third quarter on their way to a 83-56 win to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.

Mulkey was asked postgame whether her comments on the article may have served as a distraction, but vehemently dismissed the idea.

“No. Listen, man, we’re not going to let one sleazy reporter distract us from what we’re trying to do,” she said. “Absolutely not. My kids didn’t even know I said that yesterday. That team is not involved in this. They were in shock when they saw all that on the internet. I don’t take that stuff to my team.”

Flaujae Johnson was a big part of the comeback as she led LSU with 21 points while Angel Reese chipped in a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Tigers managed to take a 59-49 lead into the final quarter and only added to it from there, leading by as many as 30 points on their way to the win.

It still wasn’t the best showing for LSU, which barely outrebounded MTSU 43-41. However, Mulkey went on to point out that this is a well-coached Blue Raiders team led by Rick Insell. He has taken MTSU to 12 NCAA Tournaments in 19 years as coach, and had the Blue Raiders riding a 20-game winning streak entering Sunday.

“Why don’t we give credit to the other team?” Mulkey said. “That’s a Hall-of-Fame coach. Those kids haven’t lost a game since the end of December. That’s a good team, well-coached. They run their stuff. They reverse the ball. They make you defend for 30 seconds. As I told you in the press conference before we played them, do you know how many Power Five teams that man has beaten? 17, 19 in the SEC alone. I give credit to the opponent.”

Regardless of whether the slow start was related to Mulkey’s comments or not, LSU managed to get it together and will continue its quest to repeat as national champions. They’ll aim to keep distractions at a minimum as they prepare for the winner between UCLA and Creighton in the Sweet Sixteen.