What LSU MBB said after 79-69 loss to Alabama

LSU lost to Alabama 79-69 on Saturday evening in the PMAC, failing to close a game that was within one possessions on numerous occasions in the second half.

Led by Derek Fountain’s career night, the Tigers (12-11, 1-9 in SEC) posted a strong showing against one of the five best teams in the country, outrebounding the Tide, getting to the free throw line twice as much, and committing less turnovers. However, the 3-point shooting of Alabama was too much to overcome as LSU once again struggled from the field, shooting 30.6 percent.

Here’s the box score and what LSU had to say after its tenth consecutive loss.

LSU Head Matt McMahon

Opening Statement…

“Congratulations to Alabama on their road win today. Thought we saw some improvement form our team, Alabama just has so much firepower and they can really score it at a high level. If you go back to, I think the last seven minutes of the game, both teams really struggled to score there. We got stops but were not able to convert those into points. That said, credit to Alabama for the win.”

On LSU’s improvement on offense…

“It gives us a chance when we don’t turn the ball over because it gives us a chance to limit those transition points, especially against a team as explosive as Alabama. We gave up three points off turnovers today and that’s the reason we had an opportunity to be in the game. The offensive rebounds, it’s great, it’s an effort stat and it’s great that we got 13 of them, but we don’t convert them into enough points. We just don’t have much efficiency on those offensive rebounds. Today, 13 offensive boards and only six points there and you’d like that number to be over a point per offensive rebound, certainly. All that said, it’s difficult to win against a team of that caliber shooting 30 percent from the floor and 26 (percent) from three. We have to continue to keep getting better there.”

On the performance of Derek Fountain…

“I thought Derek Fountain was terrific. He embodies everything I want to build this program around. Relentless effort, energy, he’s all about the team. He has really stepped forward into a leadership role. People respect hard work, toughness and people who put the team above themselves, and he checks all those boxes. We need to keep building around that and make that more contagious with in the entire program and organization moving forward.”

LSU Forward Derek Fountain

On their performance in the game…

“Tired of losing. Alabama is (ranked) top 4, that is great, we knew that coming in. We’ve been losing lately, so all we have been trying to do is get better at competing. Alabama is a big team, so we just wanted to make sure that we were all locked in coming into the game. That is all it really was.”

On Fountain’s free throw attempts …

“I just come in the game, I tell myself to go play hard. Whatever happens, happens.”

LSU Guard Cam Hayes

On Shawn Phillips’ performance …

“Shawn has been playing hard, he is a freshman. The one thing about Shawn, he is going to go hard every day. He has a lot of passion. He puts everything in the game, so it was good seeing him out there helping us, contributing tonight. I was proud of him, I was happy for him.”

On the aggressiveness of the game…

“We felt like in the paint we had an advantage. The way they guarded, like ball screen, (Charles) Bediako, he just sits in the paint. There was a lot of free runs to the rim. We just had to finish our layups, we weren’t really finishing as much. We just always want to be aggressive, that is what we have been talking about in practice. I think it helped us because we shot 31 free throws tonight. So, that is good, we just still have to fix the little things to win games.”