LSU Men's Basketball - 2013-14

Boy, did they. Looked like the better team, imo. We were playing short-handed, too. TQuarterman was in GA attending a funeral, and obviously MMorgan is out w/injury. That meant Hickey and Stringer had to play the whole game. Hickey fouled out w/ :30sec, and hard to say, but he may have made a difference in that last 30. Stringer made a go ahead shot, but missed 1 of 2 FTs. With 3.9 sec, Hickey may have gotten it up the court more quickly and actually got a shot off. Stringer, unfortunately, dribbled up then lost possession attempting to pass it.

Quite a game by the Tigers. Showed a lot of heart in defeat.

 

Great game, but such a sad ending. They played their hearts out.

 

Ah, but out of darkness my friend, usually comes light.

With the apparent mediocrity of the SEC these days, even with the UK loss (and sometimes in the world of basketball, it's not the W or L, but how you play the game) there are five teams in the SEC tied at 7-7 right now, behind UF, UK and Georgia. LSU earned some national respect playing UK in a one point overtime loss at Rupp, I believe. LSU also plays one of those teams tied for 4th, Texas A&M, at home tonight, and then also plays Georgia at home as the last game of the season. As fate would have it, a schedule that I was sort of lamenting earlier in the thread plays nicely now for LSU as one of those SEC teams still "on the bubble". We play A&M (SEC 7-7), UGA (SEC: 10-5) and Vandy (SEC: 7-8), with UGA and Vandy both RPI top 100 teams, which will still move the RPI needle up if we win. Not to overlook Texas A&M, however, because a loss to them at home, probably puts us much further back than a win helps us.

http://espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

Bracketology, currently has Missouri and Tennessee as the last 2 SEC teams in the tourney behind UK and UF, despite the fact that Tennessee is also at 7-7 and Missouri is actually at 7-8. Missouri is trending the wrong way, however, having been crushed by UGA and also losing to Alabama before that. They DO however, play Tennessee as the last game of the season, which helps LSU, if LSU can keep its winning ways. Tennessee also still plays Vandy. So, we cheer for Vandy to beat Tennessee, so when we beat them, it helps LSU leapfrog Tennessee in the RPI. Then, we likely hope that Missouri can get their act around by the end of the season to finish off Tennessee (since we beat Missouri).

Of course, I'm leaving out one small game, which is this Saturday versus the #1 Gatahs. Interestingly, when you look at the Gators on paper, they are statistically an anomoly. They don't score, they don't rebound, they don't assist. They do not rank in the top 100 in any statistic. However, unlike past Donovan teams, they are a senior laden team that plays hard defense. A novel concept, eh? Toughness, maturity and experience, and defense, leading to results.

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/team/_/id/57/florida-gators

Not to get ahead of ourselves here, but beating the Gators puts a whole different spin on LSU's season. Crazy that one game can really make the difference--but at the end of the season, anything can and usually does happen. Beat the #1 team on the road, and finish in the top 4 in the SEC, and LSU may still be dancing... even with a loss to UF but a respectable one, LSU may not be out of it. This one again, is coming down to the wire, folks. SEC Tournament, as well, continues to loom.... Gotta love college basketball, folks, and we are only a few days away from March!

 

For those of you that don't like Coach Cal, gotta love his quote after the game and the love for the SEC and LSU. Thanks, Cal.

"Like I said, I'm proud in a lot of ways. But let's give credit to LSU. They beat us by a hundred down there and had us here. Someone wants to question whether they're an NCAA tournament team? Why? So no one else loses? LSU is the only one that lost a couple games? You have teams with the same record that are five seeds.
They're doing great. This was a great game for both of us. I'm just happy we pulled it out at the end."

 

Well, that was a statement game. They just need to keep their chins up, keep playing hard, close out the season strong over the next 2 weeks and good things will happen. I, for one, believe they can still get into the NCAA.

 

Well, Arky upsetting Kentucky doesn't help our chances. That upped the ante for us needing to beat UF this weekend. Interesting, what HornLand pointed out about UF not even registering in most of the important national statistical categories - that really is an anomaly. They've had some close calls, esp. lately, so they are beatable. Tigers need to play w/ a purpose. If we lose, we need to win out, and have a strong SECT showing - may need to win it.