On Saturday Night, the LSU Tigers fell short against the Florida Gators losing 79-65 as the Nation's 2nd ranked team came alive in the second half and outpowered LSU during the final five minutes. The loss dropped LSU to 14-13 and 3-11 in SEC Play snapping a two game winning streak. The game gave LSU a massive chance to add a headline win to their season resume but, it was clear Florida had more talent.
At times LSU's play was incredible as the team went on a 22-2 run to end the first half which had the Tigers up 6 points at halftime. While LSU lost there's a ton of positives to takeaway from this game as the team clearly was prepared and the key pieces from the future shined in this game. Following the game, LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon shared his thoughts on the game and what he liked from his team.
To start off his Post Game Press Conference, Matt McMahon gave an opening statement crediting Florida while discussing what went well for the LSU Basketball team in the first half and where the game slipped away in the second team.
"Credit to Florida, they’re a really good basketball team. I thought the final eight minutes of the first half was the best that we’d defended all year. We were great physically and the communication was good for the most part. We limited them to one shot in that stretch and it enabled us to get out in transition. I thought we moved the ball well out there in the first half and we had some guys step up and hit some big threes for us to go into the break, up by six. Second half, I think when you look at the story of the game it’s that they physically dominated us in the paint. At one point, we were 12-to-1 in assist-to-turnover ratio in the game and we finished 3-to-6 in that stretch where they built their lead and we weren’t able to knock down some of those threes that we were hitting earlier in the game."Matt McMahon
In this game, Curtis Givens continued his development for the Tigers scoring 11 points while knocking down 3 three point attempts. The most impressive part of his game wasn't as a shooter but, in the way that he ran the offense as he didn't turn the ball over while his defensive play was crucial in this game.
"For Curtis, his role’s increased because of the defensive end of the floor. He’s got good size and physicality there and now you’re seeing him with more confidence on the offensive end. He had four assists and zero turnovers tonight. He hit three three-pointers; we would have liked to have had a higher percentage from the floor, but he’s making a lot of winning plays for us. "Matt McMahon
Down the Final Stretch of the season, Robert Miller has gone from a Freshman getting his feet wet to a dominant force for the Tigers. Miller led the team with 19 points while grabbing 10 rebounds making 2 of 3 three point attempts. In Robert Miller, LSU has a massive piece returning especially if he's able to take the next step in his development this Summer.
"Rob Miller has invested a lot of time and you see him get better and better every time out there. His skill level was on full display tonight and I thought he was really good in the ball screen attack and made good decisions on when to drive it and when to make the extra pass. I think he got off to a 0-of-12 start from three this season and sometimes you lose a little confidence there, but I really believe in his shooting and his mechanics keep getting better there. He got 10 rebounds for us tonight as well, but unfortunately, we weren’t able to get him enough help on the glass."Matt McMahon