LSU Basketball Blown Away By East Tennessee State 74-63 Snapping Four Game Win Streak
When the fans start heading for the exit signs with 10 minutes left to play that usually means one team is having a good night and the other is having a dreadful one.
On Wednesday, that dreadful looking team was LSU as the Tigers were outplayed in nearly every facet against East Tennessee State, losing 74-63 and snapping a four game win streak.
It was the worst home loss in the Will Wade era with the next closest coming at the hands of Florida in his first year with the Tigers, losing that game 73-64.
“Obviously a tough night. East Tennessee played tremendously. Give them credit,” Wade said. “They had a great, great gameplay. They shrunk the paint on us and then they just pinned their ears back and killed us on the offensive glass.“
The first half was the definition of what has plagued this LSU team at times this season. After starting out the game with a 16-12 lead, the Buccaneers closed the final 10 minutes of the half outscoring LSU 26-12.
Between allowing 11 offensive rebounds and the Buccaneers catching fire from three-point range, the Tigers dug themselves a 38-29 halftime deficit.
It would only get worse in the second half.
The Tigers were completely out of sync, turning the ball over on three of their first five possessions and allowing ETSU to capitalize. The Buccaneers jumped out to a 49-33 lead thanks to a 5-for-7 start to the half that LSU just wasn't able to match.
The rebounding struggles only got worse for LSU in the second half as by game's end, the Buccaneers had pulled down 19 offensive rebounds that led to 15 second chance points. LSU fans were bewildered and Will Wade was left scratching his head.
“Well, we’ve been working on it,” Wade said. “Our guards have to help us. We can’t ask much more from Emmitt (Williams). I mean, Emmitt got 11 rebounds. Emmitt did his job. (Darius) Days didn’t have his day. We’ve got to have more from Trendon(Watford), Javonte (Smart) and Skylar (Mays). We’ve got to have more from those guys. Those guys have got to help us.”
To combat the defensive woes, LSU wasn't doing a lick on offense. The LSU offense started the second half 3-for-12 from the field as the ETSU continued to grow. The lead would grow to as many as 23 points in the second half as the Tigers tried to claw their way back into the game late.
Two of the team's leading scorers, Skylar Mays and Darius Days combined for just 17 points on 6-of-20 shooting. The duo came into Wednesday averaging better than 30 points per game.
“First off, ETSU is a quality team,” Mays said. “They are well coached, they had a great game plan for us. Honestly, they played way harder than us tonight. Things went right for them and just didn’t go right for us.”
Wednesday night did see the long awaited return of senior guard Marlon Taylor, who missed the first nine games of the season with a foot ailment. Taylor played two minutes and scored two points but did not come back for the second half.
LSU will have to move on quickly as the team heads for Los Angeles for a game against USC in Staples Center on Dec. 21.
