Matt McMahon magnifies importance of comeback win vs Wake Forest

LSU locked down a 72-70 neutral site victory over the weekend against Wake Forest, needing a 20-point comeback in order to take down the Demon Deacons. After the game, Tigers head coach Matt McMahon said he hopes the thrilling come-from-behind win helped bring the team a lot closer together, since they faced and defeated a lot of adversity together in that game alone.

“Well, I hope we learned a lot about each other,” said McMahon about the win afterwards, crediting his team for making the necessary adjustments. “And you hope when you face adversity that you either lay down and you get beat by 40 there, or you come together as a team and find a way to chip away at it and make the necessary adjustments to play your way back into the game.”

McMahon noted that it’s generally tough to beat an ACC side when you have as pitiful a first half as his team did. But, to LSU’s credit, they played much fiercer towards the end of the first and into the second half.

“You know, it’s very rare against an ACC opponent to give up a 17-0 run in the first half and a 10-1 run and still find a way to win. Really, the the tale of two halves. When we were down 39-19, there were four minutes to go in the half. I think, over the next stretch, we outscored them 40 to 15 to take a five-point lead. And then went gave up an 8-0 run to go down three and still found a way to win. So I thought it just spoke to the the toughness and character of our team that we’re trying to build. And I hope it’s something that will propel us forward and give us some momentum.”

McMahon then pointed to a specific lineup that unlocked the comeback for the Tigers, which began late in the first half and continued through the final 20 minutes.

“Well I thought it started with the the energy and the effort that group played with the last four minutes of the first half. And I think improved execution. No. 1, much better defensively. I think we gave up two points down the stretch and finished the half 14-2. And then on the offensive end, just better ball movement, much better shot selection that enabled us to to chip away at it and close the lead to eight as they’re going in at halftime. But that’s why we started that same group to start the second half. They did the work to get us back into the game and thought they had the right mindset to execute and help us find away to win.”

Who was that five-some that turned the tide of the game for the Tigers? Well, it was: Justice Williams, Derek Fountain, Adam Miller, Cam Hayes and KJ Williams. So the team’s two-leading scorers and three guys who have combined to start one game this year. It’s a rare lineup for Matt McMahon, but it was working vs. Wake Forest so he rode it.

Heck of a win for the Tigers.