Matt McMahon breaks down why LSU struggled in loss against Vanderbilt

The LSU Tigers opened up SEC play with an 80-72 loss to the Vanderbilt Commodores. However, for head coach Matt McMahon, that loss came down to one major issue.

After the game, McMahon explained that LSU’s issues with turnovers, in particular during the first half, that the Tigers weren’t able to overcome. That came from a mixture of mistakes that LSU made as well as the physicality of Vanderbilt that forced the issue.

“Just overall ball security,” Matt McMahon said. “Some of it was poor decision-making, driving it into a lot of traffic, but that’s what Vanderbilt does. They do a good job gapping spin-dribbles and turning you over. We got caught up in the air a couple times and threw passes away.”

Vanderbilt finished the game with 10 steals to only six steals by LSU. For the game as a whole, the Commodores had nine turnovers to 15 turnovers for the Tigers. That helped Vanderbilt jump out to a 34-27 halftime lead that LSU was unable to overcome in the second half.

The loss for LSU was their first since dropping a neutral site game to SMU on December 14th. In the meantime, the Tigers won three straight non-conference games. That’s come in a season where LSU is 226th in the country in turnover margin, with a -0.4 ratio for the year.

“They made us pay. That’s part of the reason they had 26 points in the paint in the first half. In the second half, we did a better job limiting that with less turnovers,” McMahon said. “But, certainly, their physicality of their players and their defensive pressure really bothered us in the first half.”

Beyond the turnovers, Vanderbilt saw his team struggle in other physical aspects of the game. The Commodores had 10 more rebounds than LSU and held the Tigers to just five offensive rebounds. That lack of second-chance points hurt when taking into account that Vanderbilt shot a higher percentage from three-point range.

For Matt McMahon and LSU, the loss is going to send the Tigers back to practice looking for a way to address those turnovers and physicality. It was just LSU’s first game in the SEC this season and that looks to be the most competitive basketball conference in 2024-25. So, every win is going to come at a premium.

Next up for LSU in SEC play is a road trip to Missouri. Both teams sit at 11-3 and are looking for their first conference win of the season.