What LSU MBB said after its streak-snapping win over Vanderbilt

LSU put an end to a 14-game losing streak on Wednesday night with an impressive 84-77 win over Vanderbilt in the PMAC. KJ Williams scored a career-high 35 points, while guard Adam Miller pitched in 18 of his own to help lift the Tigers to the win.

Here’s what the Tigers said after the victory.

Head coach Matt McMahon

Opening Statement…

“Great win for our team tonight. Really proud of our players. I loved the process we went through these last 48 hours; I thought the preparation was really good. I thought our guys played with great energy. I thought we had a really good shoot around that carried over into tonight. Really felt like we had a team out there tonight and it was a lot of fun to watch. The guys were really locked in to do the things we needed to do to have success. Obviously, KJ (Williams), his performance was off the charts, 35 and 10. I thought Adam Miller getting to the free-throw line 10 times was huge. 18 points there. Then I just think there were some other stats that have really been missing for us of late. You know, Trae Hannibal didn’t take a shot tonight, but he had the highest plus/minus in the game of any player. Juice Hill, four-to-one assist to turnover ratio, had the second-highest plus/minus in the game tonight. We have been challenging our players, this is where you find out what you are made of. It’s been a difficult stretch. Happy for our guys to come in here and play well and find a way to win tonight.”

On the team being locked in tonight…

“The streak is something we certainly don’t spend much time talking about, we try to focus on doing the things that we need to do to play better and to get better as a team and find ways to win. I thought our players were really locked into that. One thing that stands out, I thought Vanderbilt really 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. Often times when you are going through a losing stretch, sometimes you just find another way to lose, and I thought out guys were really dialed in to doing the things necessary to win the game. Only seven turnovers, 15 assists on our 27 made baskets, so we were over 2:1 there. Really solid on the glass. Got to the free-throw line and converted. We looked back at Saturday’s game where we got to the free-throw line 10 times more than our opponent and we got outscored by three. Tonight, we were plus seven at free-throw line. So, credit to our players.”

Forward KJ Williams

On finally getting the win…

“It’s just us staying the course. We went on a long losing streak and us coming out tonight with the energy and the preparation it took for us these last two days, we took it to heart and we came out with the mindset that no matter what, we were gonna get this win. Credit to my teammates, they were locked in today and we broke the streak.”

On scoring 20 of the teams 33 points after LSU took a one-point lead…

“Credit to my teammates for finding me. Also the coaches drawing up plays for me to get wide-open shots looking at the defense because there was a lot of space out there. It’s just something we’ve got to attack. Of course when you see a lot of space why not attack it. Credit to my teammates, they found me in the open spots and I knocked them down.”

Guard Adam Miller

On finally getting the win…

“We locked in. It was a different kind of energy at shootaround and practice this week. My team, we never really ever laid down, ever. We couldn’t get any lucky ones. I feel like this one, we grinded it out and we deserved to win this one. It’s hard when you can’t get those 50/50 games and certain situations don’t go your way. I just want to give kudos to my team, my coaches because it’s easy to lay down right now and we didn’t do that.”

On KJ Williams scoring 20 of the teams 33 points after LSU took a one-point lead…

“I think he hit one, it was far out and I was like ‘yeah this man is going crazy’. I expect him to do that though. I’ve seen him do that. The way they were covering our action, I thought he is just going to keep knocking it down, y’all better do something different but they didn’t really do anything different…. When you talk about 4’s and 5’s that can shoot the ball, he’s one of the best out there. He got hot … and it was just fun because we got a win and he carried us today.”