On Saturday Night, the LSU Basketball team looked poised to pick up its biggest win of the season holding an 11 point lead over 25th ranked Ole Miss with just over three minutes left to play. The final three minutes resembled a horror movie as anything that could go wrong did go wrong and even after LSU forced a last second miss likely sending the game to overtime, Ole Miss' Dre Davis soared above the rim to tip in the game winner.
The loss felt like the true lowest point in a stretch that has felt like low point after low point as the Tigers let victory slip away. The Tigers now fall to 12-11 and 1-9 in SEC play with just eight games left in SEC Play.
After the game, Matt McMahon opened up his press conference with an opening statement crediting Ole Miss while giving his team a ton of credit for how they played for most of the game until the final stretch.
"Credit to Ole Miss for finding ways to win down the stretch. Heartbroken, wasn't able to help our players to the finish line there at the end of the game. I thought for 36 minutes we played our best basketball in league play against a legitimate Top 15 team in the country and to not be able to finish, to not be able to make the plays we needed to make down the stretch is devastating."Matt McMahon
When asked about the defensive adjustments LSU made after the first matchup against Ole Miss, McMahon credited the pressure the Tigers applied.
"I thought in the first half in Oxford, our pressure was as good as it had been this year I think we forced nine turnovers against a team that rarely turns it over. I thought out ball pressure was a lot better the majority of the game, we mixed in some zone here and there."Matt McMahon
This game was the best we've seen LSU's defense look in a few games especially as the Rebels only scored 72 points. The Rebels shot just 37.7% from the field and 26.1% from three both of which LSU had better marks in. Where Ole Miss took the Tigers out was at the free throw line as the Rebels scored 20 points at the free throw line. The Tigers defense really only broke out when Corey Chest, Daimion Collins, and Robert Miller II all got into foul trouble which caused the Tigers to play a little softer.
When Matt McMahon was asked about how you keep team morale up after the loss he said the following.
"I think just like anything in life from a perspective standpoint, its crushing it is what it is if you take the perspective of that's a Top 15 team in the Country, which I believe it is. Coach Beard's done a fantastic job, they're physical, they're tough, they guard you, they make it really difficult on you to score, they rarely make any mistakes, and you showed for 36 minutes that you can play with a team if you're connected as one and competing at a high level so that'll be the only way I know how to move forward."Matt McMahon
The mentality that the team should feel great about the game despite losing is not what anyone wants to hear. McMahon has to defend his team and look to the bright side but at the end of the day almost winning the game and showing a ton of positives won't change the fact that the record books show that the Tigers lost.
After the game, Matt McMahon was asked point blank whether or not this is the low point in the season.
"I'm not sure it just happened. It is crushing when you pour everything you have into it, players were really connected as one I thought we really competed at a high level, played the game the right way, played with more physicality than we've shown in our last two outings and to not be able to close it out it is difficult to handle certainly."Matt McMahon
After a shocking stunning 180 where the mood went from what a great win by the team where they played tough and pulled off a win over a Top 25 team to how did this even happen it certainly feels like the lowest point. If anything this three game stretch where LSU has gotten blown out twice and threw away this game is certainly the low point.
Discipline was a massive topic after the game as LSU committed a technical and a flagrant foul that were unnecessary when asked about discipline McMahon didn't directly call out the two mental blunders but, he did address LSU's mistakes in this game.
"Basketball is a game of mistakes, there are a lot of mistakes throughout the game and usually the team that makes the fewest mistakes puts themselves in the best position to win. We had ten turnovers they only had five, we won the glass but in the second half too many second chance opportunities. Then we got outscored by eight at the free throw line and four of them were free points off some of our mistakes."Matt McMahon
If the Tigers didn't give away free points on technical free throws, the team has some extra room down the stretch and even as Ole Miss stormed back the Tigers still would've had a cushion.
After the loss, Matt McMahon is going to need to do a ton to get his team off the mat and back to the team we saw for the vast majority of this game. The Tigers have a few days to regroup before they'll head to Fayetteville to take on the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday Night.