LSU's woes continue with an embarrassing loss at Vanderbilt
Nashville — LSU Basketball came into its game against Vanderbilt looking to bounce back and gain some positive momentum. Instead, LSU left in a worse place than before.
Much like its last lost against Ole Miss, LSU got into a deep hole early and was not able to get back in the game. LSU trailed 43-25 at halftime and despite getting the deficit within five, the Tigers were not able to make enough plays to close the game out.
“We’ve gotten down huge at halftime in the last couple games and we’ve charged back, but have spent so much energy coming back that we can’t get over the hump,” Head Coach Will Wade said when talking about getting into a hole early.
One of the stories of this game and the last two games is LSU’s once stout defense struggling. LSU gave up over 70 points game in three straight games after not giving up more than 70 points all season before that. In the last two games, it has been three-point defense. Vanderbilt was able to get a big lead, knocking down 13 three-pointers.
The defense is not the only problem though. Offensively, LSU Basketball continues to struggle, especially when having to play from behind. Compared to Vanderbilt shooting 13-31 from beyond the arc, LSU shot just 3-14 and could never get a real rhythm going offensively. Turnovers continue to be an issue as well, and the Tigers continued those struggles in this game, turning the ball over 16 times.
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Injuries not an excuse for LSU Basketball, Will Wade
This is a byproduct of missing Xavier Pinson, who did not play in this game after Wade mentioned shutting him down earlier this week. Health has been an issue for LSU Basketball during this stretch, but Wade does not want it to be an excuse for his team’s poor performances.
“Some of it’s health, we can’t blame it all on that,” Wade said. “We didn’t get an offensive rebound in the first half, that’s an effort issue. We don’t follow the details on the scouting report, we give up 11 threes to two of their best shooters, that’s a detail issue so it’s a little bit of both.”
The injury excuse is starting to hold less and less weight with every loss and deeper questions are starting to be asked about this LSU team. The team on the floor over the last three games looks almost unrecognizable to the one that stacked up wins against Kentucky and Tennessee just a month ago. There’s still time for this LSU team to get right, but now 10 games into SEC play, LSU sits at 4-6. That’s far from where it expected to be in conference play.
Another thing proven over this stretch is there are no easy games in the SEC. When many people saw Ole Miss and Vanderbilt on the schedule, they may have thought those were “gimmies.” Now it’s clear that was never the case. LSU Basketball has a lot of problems to figure out before March and it’s now clear that things are not going to get any easier.
