On Tuesday Night, the LSU Basketball team suffered its worst loss of the season losing by 31 points to Kentucky tying the Tigers 31 point loss to Texas. The Tigers seemed out of the game early on getting into several massive holes and eventually, the Tigers couldn't dig their way out of the holes. The Tigers only lost the second half by four points as LSU started to shoot the ball better but, there was no coming back from the showing in the first half.
The loss drops LSU to 14-16 on the season and 3-14 in SEC play ensuring it will be a losing regular season for the Tigers with just one game remaining. Barring a miracle run in the SEC Tournament, the Tigers will miss the NCAA Tournament and if they play Postseason Basketball it'll likely be in the NIT Tournament.
Following the Tigers' massive loss to Kentucky, Matt McMahon spoke to the media following the game sharing his thoughts on what went wrong.
This game seemed over from the start as the Wildcats jumped out to a 15-2 run, when LSU cut the lead down to single digits, Kentucky went on another massive run and it gave LSU no chance of coming back. Matt McMahon was asked about the first half runs and how it affected the outcome of the game.
"Yeah, they were ready to go. As disappointed as I am in our performance, I gotta give them great credit for the way they played tonight. I thought [Lamont] Butler and [Otega] Oweh dominated the game with their physicality on the defensive end. That got them out in transition. You can’t simulate the pace they play at. They play with great speed in the open floor. They really shared the ball well tonight and we just struggled to get stops against their high-powered offense."Matt McMahon
The game brought former Kentucky Wildcat Daimion Collins back to Lexington and when the Tigers starting lineup was announced, he fans erupted. Matt McMahon was asked about the moment and his thoughts on it to which he gave the Kentucky fans a ton of praise.
"Not surprised, always classy crowd here, everyone you talk to who ran into Daimion throughout his two years here at Kentucky speaks very highly of him. I've really enjoyed having the opportunity to coach him. I'm really proud of the progress and development he's made both on and off the court. Thought that was once again a really classy move by the Kentucky fans to give him a big ovation."Matt McMahon
The Tigers were short handed in this matchup especially down low as Corey Chest was unable to play in this game with an injury. The Wildcats bigs were able to put two bigs on the court at the same time and as the Wildcats bigs were able to play on the outside it gave LSU no chance of slowing Kentucky's offense. Matt McMahon was asked about the impact Kentucky's bigs had on the game to which he said the following:
"Yeah, it’s really interesting. On the defensive end, I think [Lamont] Butler and [Otega] Oweh run the show there. On the offensive end, [Amari] Williams at the five plays as a point forward as you described very well. He’s a great playmaker at 6’11. He really identifies their shooters. He’s a great passer on those back cuts when you try and take away the three. They were able to really spread us out and space us on that offensive end and Williams made us pay. And then [Brandon] Garrison, the All-American off the bench, steps up and hits a couple big threes for them as well"Matt McMahon
Matt McMahon was asked what LSU did better in the second half to keep the score from ballooning after a terrible first half.
"I thought we got better shots in the second half and shot a better percentage, defensively we still had very few answers for them but, I thought just the shot making. It seemed like the open looks we had in the first half we missed and we missed badly and it led to those transition opportunities that Kentucky made us pay every time."Matt McMahon
The Tigers have a few games off before their regular season finale on Saturday when the Tigers host 22nd ranked Texas A&M who's coming off of a massive win over top seeded Auburn.