KJ Williams shares what led to LSU losing Missouri game

LSU blew a golden opportunity to steal a win away from Missouri but let it fall apart with a shoddy second half, according to star KJ Williams.

The Tigers couldn’t hold onto the basketball, turning it over a whopping 16 times in the game.

“Can’t have as many turnovers as we did in the second half, I think we had 10 in the second half,” Williams said. “We can’t have those mistakes.”

That was also a source of angst for coach Matt McMahon, who called LSU’s turnover issues ‘brutal’ after the game. It’s been a recurring theme, but the Tigers had a much better first half than second.

“I think for us we just had to execute there in the second half,” Williams said. “Having that many turnovers in a crucial game like this with us coming out in the first half, we just have to come out with the same firepower in the second half. “

Turnovers, transition defense prove costly

In addition to the turnover woes, KJ Williams felt that LSU got a little soft on defense in giving Missouri so many easy looks in the second half. That ultimately fueled the run that flipped the game around on the Tigers.

“Getting back in transition as well, giving them easy buckets, easy threes and drive-by layups,” Williams said. “We’ve just got to lock in on the most important thing.”

McMahon was also not super thrilled with the turnovers in the game and how they led to easy run-out points for Missouri.

“You look at 16 turnovers leads to 20 points for Missouri,” he said. “The way they score the ball they certainly don’t need you helping them out, giving them easy points.

“It’s tough. We haven’t shot the ball, you know the numbers, we haven’t shot it very well at all this season. We’re 14-of-28 from three tonight. Did think we left some opportunities on the scoreboard around the rim. We were 7-of-21 from two-point range, which isn’t good enough.

“The turnovers, it’s just brutal. It’s just brutal, there’s no other way around it.”