No rest for weary LSU vs. Mizzou
Published 7:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2018
BATON ROUGE — One thing LSU coach Will Wade has noticed in his first year in the Southeastern Conference — they’re aren’t many rest stops along the way.
“Other conferences, there was always a breather,” he said of his stops at Tennessee-Chattanooga and Virginia Commonwealth. “There was somebody you could get back on track against or a little bit of a breather.”
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Not in the SEC. Not this year, in particular, when there’s speculation that the conference might get as many as eight teams in the NCAA Tournament.
Barring something unforeseen, LSU won’t be one of them.
But the Tigers, even while showing progress in Wade’s first year, still have to deal with those that are jockeying.
No rest for the weary.
Take this afternoon.
After going stone cold in the second half of a 80-65 road loss to Alabama in the midweek, LSU (14-11, 5-8 SEC) at least returns home today, but faces a Missouri team (18-8, 8-5) that is packing a five-game winning streak to the Maravich Assembly Center.
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Mizzou is tied with Florida for third place in the conference.
“They have won a lot of close games,” Wade said of Missouri, which has played well despite losing the No. 1-ranked incoming freshman in the country when Michael Porter was injured before the season started.
“They’ve made some big shots late in games and gotten some big defensive stops late in games. They have a lot of confidence in the last 4-6 minutes of games that they are going to find a way to pull it out.
“Teams have gone on long droughts against them … like we did against Alabama.”
That was fairly typical.
LSU had a chance Tuesday to take the lead early in the second half, but after Duop Reath missed a dunk, the Tide went on a 23-3 run that ended any notion of an upset.
“We get worn down,” Wade admitted. “We stray a little bit from what was working. When we do that, it tends to snowball on us.”
LSU, which earlier in the season was doing its best handiwork on the road, brings a three-game home winning streak into today’s game.
“We just have to make sure we stay in a good frame of mind,” Wade said.
LSU guard Daryl Edwards (5) drives past Mississippi guard Deandre Burnett (1) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Saturday, Feb. 10, 2018, in Baton Rouge, La.
