Will Wade, players talk LSU Basketball beating Mississippi State

LSU Basketball head coach Will Wade and players Tari Eason, Shareef O’Neal and Xavier Pinson recapped the win over Mississippi State for LSU Basketball on Saturday. Here’s some of what the group said after LSU Basketball’s 69-65 win.

Head Coach Will Wade

Opening Statement from Will Wade…
“Great win. I thought the first half we played tremendous. It was as good complementary basketball that we have played all year. We didn’t turn the ball over, we were able to set our defense, we were able to kind of grind them to a halt and get our offense going. We were off to a slow start offensively in both halves. We got great looks in the first half, but just didn’t finish very well. We didn’t get things to go down and in the second half we missed a bunch of threes, most of them pretty open three’s.

“We’ve got to close the games out better, that was atrocious, but our press offense was good. We didn’t turn the ball over, we got fouled and did some things there but, our defense was sloppy and we’ve got to be more solid on defense. But, great win, two in a row, after what we have been though in the past couple of weeks this is huge. They are a really good team; I mean a great team. [Iverson] Molinar is a tremendous player, Tolu Smith is a great player, Garrison Brooks is a great player, like they are a tremendous team. I was very pleased to get the win. I was really fired up about the first half and that is something we can build off of.

“If we put two haves together like that, we will be very tough. I thought we did a really nice job there. Obviously, Tari (Eason) adding a different dimension to his game in the last couple of games making these three’s is hug. He’s unguardable when he is making three’s like this. Fifty percent tonight, three-for-six. He is a good three-point shooter, I have been saying that all year, but they are finally starting to fall because people are playing off of him for the drives. You know Xavier (Pinson) hit him on that big corner three that put us up four. I though he played really well.

“Shareef O’Neal gave us just huge minutes, I am very proud of him. He gave us some great minutes as well. Overall, a very good team win and it is time to move forward to Georgia on Wednesday night.”

On no turnovers in the last nine and a half minutes of the first half
“Yeah, that’s the whole key. Just get a shot on the basket. We did a nice job on the glass tonight. I know we got out rebounded, but we didn’t get obliterated like we could have. We gave up 11 offensive rebounds. I think the offensive rebounded right around 33-35% of missed shots. We couldn’t give up much more than 37% of their missed shots or we would have been in trouble. You know that is what our numbers said coming into the game and with where we held them may have been the difference. Very nice job.”

On Mississippi State tying the game in the second half, then going on the run.
“I think they went up (three) and then we went on a (14-2) run and I thought that we critical. We finally stopped shooting a bunch of jump shots and drove the ball. We found a couple of sets that worked, found a couple of things that worked, and we had them confused a little bit and Pinson really led us there. He did a great job.”

LSU Basketball players talk win over Bulldogs

Guard Xavier Pinson
On second-half struggles and late-game effort…
“We started out slow. We need to start coming out of the second half with better energy and pace like in the first half but for the most part we still thugged it out and walked out with a win.”

On increased selflessness…
“We’ve got a lot of guys who can contribute. Me trying to to be a pure scorer does nothing for us. We need a leader on the court to guide us in the right direction. I came here to win a championship so I mainly care about what I can do to help the next person.”

Forward Tari Eason
On getting another win in the PMAC…
“It felt amazing. I told the guys in the huddle ‘I’m not leaving this gym without a win.’ That’s a sigh of relief. It’s good to get a second-straight win and get the monkey off our back a bit, but it’s time to get back to work.”

On exclamation windmill…
“It’s something that I do on a regular basis if you ask a lot of people. I did it in high school a lot during fast breaks. I told the guys beforehand that if I get a wide-open chance then I’ll try something.”

Forward Shareef O’Neal
On always being ready to make an impact on LSU Basketball games…
“Our leaders do a good job of keeping me prepared. We practice hard every day. Coach (Will Wade) tells me to wait for my opportunity and I’ll play my heart out everytime I get a chance.”