Matt McMahon says LSU players were locked in for Vanderbilt game

LSU got the monkey off their backs Wednesday night, snapping their 12-game losing streak by beating Vanderbilt at home 84-77. It’s been a rough first season at the helm during SEC play for Tigers’ head coach Matt McMahon. But after the game, he was asked if he sensed a different level of focus and motivation to break their losing streak on Wednesday.

“I thought so Sheldon, and you know the streak is something we certainly don’t spend much time talking about,” McMahon admitted. “Trying to focus on doing the things that we need to do to play better, to get better as a team and find ways to win. And I thought our players were really locked into that.”

The Tigers certainly looked like a different breed versus Vanderbilt. LSU has the SEC’s second-worst field goal percentage on the season but made 45% of their field goal attempts and 42.9% of their three-pointers. Their 84 points were a season high in conference play, but it didn’t come easy, as they battled back and forth all night for their victory.

“One thing that stands out, I thought Vandy obviously punched us in the face there to start the second half. Three straight drives to get it down to one, they went on another run in the second half and our guys responded both times. And oftentimes when you’re going through a losing stretch sometimes you just find another way to lose, and I thought our guys were really dialed in to doing the things necessary to win the game,” McMahon said.

KJ Williams led the charge for the Tigers, matching a season-high 35 points to help will his team to victory. Williams and Adam Miller were the only two LSU players to score in double figures, as Miller ended the game with 18 points, but their team did all the little things right all night long.

“Only seven turnovers, 15 assists on our 27 made baskets, so we’re over two to one there. Really solid on the glass, got to the free throw line and converted, when you look back at Saturday’s game where we got to the free throw line if you include one and one’s ten times more than our opponent and we got outscored by three,” McMahon said. “Tonight we’re plus seven at the free throw line, so credit to our players.”

The Tigers have a great opportunity to ride their newfound momentum, as they take on the only other team with two conference losses on the season, Ole Miss, in their next matchup on Saturday.