LSU Basketball overcomes sloppy start to survive upset scare against Alabama State

The LSU Basketball team got the chance to end the busy weekend in Baton Rouge on a positive note. The Tigers were expected to dominate the Alabama State Hornets but, that’s not what happened on Sunday Night.

The Tigers started off incredibly slow and incredibly sloppy allowing Alabama State to take a lead into halftime like they did last season against LSU.

The start of the second half wasn’t much better as Alabama State opened up a ten point lead with just under ten minutes left to play. Once the Tigers started to play better defense stopping fouling and started attacking the rim the game flipped LSU's way.

The Tigers closed the game out on fire winning 74 to 61 dominating the final ten minutes of the game.

Cam Carter stepped up when LSU needed him most with 18 points in the second half after being held to three points in the first half. Jordan Sears turned in an impressive game scoring 18 points as Alabama State struggled to defend him without fouling. Dji Bailey was constantly making plays on both ends of the court finishing with 15 points while grabbing 7 rebounds and dishing out four assists.

This game gives Matt McMahon a ton to drill his team on as the Tigers got outrebounded and turned the ball over 15 times which put LSU in its early hole. The Tigers played excellent defense on the perimeter holding Alabama State to 1 for 20 shooting from three but, allowed 30 points in the paint.

The first true test comes next week for LSU

These first two games of the season were the equivalent to an early season game against an FCS opponent for football teams. The Tigers now face their first Power Five opponent in Kansas State next week which will give us a true idea of where this team is. The Tigers will need to clean up on their turnovers if they're going to beat the Wildcats but, we'll leave that game with a solid idea on where this team stacks up next week.

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