What LSU said after its home win over Arkansas

In an explosive offensive showcase, LSU picked up the convincing win over Arkansas on Saturday afternoon, 95-74, improving to 4-4 in SEC play. After the game, Matt McMahon and two 20 point scorers met with the media to talk about the performance.

LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon

Opening statement…

“Thrilled with our players’ performance today. I thought they were just terrific; a true team effort for 40 minutes. I thought on the defensive end, we were really locked in to the game plan and the things we needed to do. Then offensively, I thought it was just a really unselfish, disciplined performance. It’s a lot of fun to watch us play that way. Most of all, I’m really proud of our players for their response this week. The bye week didn’t go exactly as we had planned; we had some injury and illness early in the week that kind of changed up our schedule. But, I thought our guys really competed throughout the week and found ways to get better, and then came out with an 11 a.m. start today with a tough, together performance to get us a big win here at home.”

On Jalen Cook coming off the bench…

“I thought him (Jalen Cook) and Trae Hannibal at the point were terrific. Trae had four assists, no turnovers. I thought Jalen was just really dialed in offensively. He shot the ball really well, did a great job getting to the free-throw line and got his teammates involved. I thought a big key for us was we scored 29 baskets and 17 of them were assisted on. I think we were 17:8 assist-to-turnover, until the full-court press there down 30 late bothered us some. So, all in all, I thought it was terrific point guard play and because we played unselfishly and really shared the ball, you saw great looks for Mike Williams and Will Baker, and they stepped up and shot the ball really well.”

On LSU’s offensive flow and 17 assists…

“That’s the key. Since December, we’ve been playing a lot faster and our spacing is a lot better, so when we move the ball and execute, we have really good players and when they play well, it allows us to score 95 points. Our efficiency was really good because of the unselfish play. A big concern was Arkansas being top five in the country in getting to the free throw line and they got there 33 times today, but we got there 28 times and made 25 of them because of the spacing and the strong drives and good decision making.”

On Will Baker’s shooting…

“We just had better spacing and better ball movement. We also had to adjust because Arkansas mixed up their ball screen coverages so we looked to set up Will when they put two on the ball. Instead of forcing it, our guards kicked it to Will and we believe in his ability to shoot it.”

What does this win mean for your team?

“You hope it leads to more confidence. When you see the hard work and the trust they played with, you see that it works. Our guys should have confidence and we’ll keep getting better as we prepare for the next opportunity.”

LSU forward Will Baker

On his start and feeling his shot right away…

“My teammates found me on a corner three. I got in a rhythm early and I definitely think that helped me. All credit to my teammates because they kept finding me when I was open. I just stepped in and shot it.”

On his three’s opening up the lane for attacking…

“Like (Jalen) Cook said, we have shooters so that allows us to space the floor. When you have threats like that it allows us to be able to drive and kick out to find more open looks. It just builds on itself. When one guy is a threat, he can drive and kick it to another shooter.”

LSU guard Jalen Cook

On being comfortable in the role that he was given and the effectiveness in the second half…

“I just wanted to come in and create a spark on both ends of the floor. I wanted to get all my teammates involved and I think I did a good job of that.”

On the ball movement in this game and how it feels when everything is clicking…

“We have a lot of talent on the team. We can spread it around. (Will) Baker can step out and shoot the three. We have a lot of three-point shooters. Mike Williams can shoot it. We have some shooters, so we just try space the floor out and attack.”