After Crushing 81-66 Loss To Florida, LSU Basketball Officially Finds Itself on the NCAA Tournament Bubble
Needing each and every one of its final four regular games to go in the win column, LSU basketball laid a dud in Gainesville Wednesday night that can only be described as painful.
It wasn't just that LSU lost but how they lost that made it so painful to watch. The Tigers’ performance against the Gators will almost certainly raise an eyebrow in the eyes of the selection committee come tournament time.
Multiple defensive breakdowns and inconsistent offense were just a few of the highlights that led to the Tigers 81-66 downfall to the Gators. Skylar Mays turned in his worst performance of the year, scoring just three points on 1-of-6 shooting and with the latest Charles Manning injury, bench production could be a problem moving forward.
"We got killed. They were ready to play. We weren't as ready as we needed to," Wade said. "They beat us on the glass, they beat us to loose balls, they shot 55 percent. Wish I had more to tell you, but we got beat everywhere."
It was a game that LSU seemed destined to lose right from the tip as Florida rattled off nine straight points to open the game and never looked back. The Gators led by as many as 19 points in the second half and went 7-of-10 from three point range in the final 20 minutes as well.
Limiting the efficiency of opponents’ second half threes was a preaching point for coach Will Wade ahead of the South Carolina game as the Tigers also allowed No. 8 Kentucky to get hot from three. The Wildcats went 7-of-8 from three in the second half after a 2-for-10 first half.
All of this is to say, LSU is not fixing its defensive issues and with Manning now gone, they could only continue to expand. Wade said he's exhausted every possibility and it's up to the players to execute what the coaching staff is preaching.
As a result of its recent woes, LSU has now dropped five of its last seven games and finds itself dangerously close to the NCAA tournament bubble. The Tigers NET ranking took another nose dive after the loss, dropping four spots to No. 33 after entering the game at No. 29.
Florida, on the other hand, made a two spot jump from No. 33 to No. 31. LSU now sits behind the Gators, Auburn (No. 27) and Kentucky (No. 19) in the NET rankings in the SEC.
All is not lost for this team as two of its final three games are at home and against very winnable opponents. TeamRankings still gives LSU a 100% chance to make the NCAA tournament even after the Florida loss, currently slating the Tigers to finish 21-10 and receive a six-seed.
ESPN's bracketology on the other hand had LSU slated as an eight-seed and that was last updated three days ago, before the double-digit loss to Florida.
At the end of the day all the Tigers can control is how they approach these final three games. The month of February has been a forgettable one for this team and the recent slide is concerning on multiple levels.
But March is quickly approaching and if there's one thing we know about March, it's that it can get really mad.
