McMahon earns positive reviews for second season
According to the experts, LSU’s men’s basketball season will be over by late Thursday afternoon.
The Tigers are underdogs to Mississippi State in a first-round game of the Southeastern Conference tournament at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. LSU was soundly beaten at home by the Bulldogs a little more than two weeks ago.
The Tigers could not handle Mississippi State’s physical play in the lane that day. It will be interesting to see if LSU is up to the task of competing with the Bulldogs’ post players this time around.
Moreover, Mississippi State needs a victory to assure itself a NCAA tournament berth. Most bracketologists still have the Bulldogs in the tournament despite their losing streak at the end of the season. Mississippi State can calm some nerves around Starkville with a victory.
As far as the Tigers are concerned, only four straight victories in Nashville will get them into the Big Dance. Even LSU’s NIT hopes are not great. The Tigers probably need to win a couple of games to be simply considered for the NIT.
Regardless of how this season ends, Matt McMahon has turned in a very good coaching performance in year two at LSU. The Tigers finished with a 9-9 SEC record – good enough for a seventh-place tie in the standings.
LSU tied Texas A&M for seventh place – an Aggies team which was picked no lower than second in most preseason polls. Texas A&M won the tiebreaker over the Tigers by splitting two games with conference champion Tennessee. LSU lost its one game to the Vols.
McMahon guided LSU to a .500 conference record with not a single player receiving any type of all-league honor – no All-SEC player, no All-Defensive team player, no All-Freshman team player.
Three Tigers players averaged double figures in scoring in the 18 conference games – Jordan Wright (15.4), Will Baker (10.6) and Tyrell Ward (10.4). Ward made less than 40 percent of his field goal attempts, while Baker managed to grab just five rebounds a game.
LSU’s improved play during the second half of the SEC schedule which included victories over South Carolina and Kentucky – two NCAA tournament teams – was sparked by senior point guard Trae Hannibal.
Hannibal more than adequately replaced Jalen Cook at the starting point guard position. During conference play, Hannibal averaged 7.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game.
McMahon improved LSU’s conference record by seven games this season – going from 2-16 to 9-9. There have been only two greater turnarounds for the Tigers – directed by former coaches Will Wade and John Brady.
Wade’s first LSU team in 2018 finished with an 8-10 league mark. One year later, the Tigers had a 16-2 record and won the SEC title. Brady’s second LSU team in 1999 ended with a 4-12 mark. One season later, the Tigers went 12-4 and shared the SEC title.
Two other former LSU coaches improved the team’s record seven games like McMahon. Trent Johnson’s first team in 2009 followed up a 6-10 SEC record by going 13-3 and winning the conference championship.
More than 50 years ago, Press Maravich’s first team had a 1-17 league mark while his son Pete was playing on the freshman team. One year later, with Pete Maravich in the lineup, LSU had an 8-10 conference record.
Maybe McMahon will surprise the prognosticators and stay around until the weekend in Nashville which would mean victories over Mississippi State and Tennessee. History indicates the Tigers do not have such type of success in the league tournament.
The last 12 times LSU did not have a winning SEC record, it failed to win more than one game in the league tournament. Six times, the Tigers lost their first tourney game.
It has been 21 seasons since a LSU team with a non-winning conference mark won two SEC tournament games. Brady’s 2003 Tigers team went 8-8 in the conference and then beat Arkansas and Florida before losing to Mississippi State in the tourney semifinals.
McMahon has one more opportunity this week at Bridgestone Arena to make another positive statement with this overachieving squad.