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Neither Ole Miss nor South Carolina had lost a Southeastern Conference game before tangling with LSU last week.
The Tigers handed both the Rebels their first defeats of the conference season by double digit margins.
As a result, LSU finds itself back in the Associated Press top-25 rankings. The Tigers spent the first three weeks of the season ranked, but that status ended after losing to Florida State and Oklahoma State.
LSU coach Will Wade is hoping his team’s stay in the national rankings will last a little longer this time.
“Hopefully, we handle being ranked better than we did the first time,” Wade said. “It is human nature to relax. We have to fight human nature. We have to do better with how we compete. We have to do better with the details.”
Wade was pleased that the Tigers won in a different fashion against South Carolina. LSU’s shooting, particularly from 3-point range, was below average. However, the Tigers took the ball to the basket and drew fouls – making 32 free throws – and crushed the Gamecocks on the backboards 49-29.
Even during its current seven-game winning streak, LSU has not put all aspects of its game together. The Tigers, the only unbeaten team in conference play other than No. 1-ranked Tennessee, will need consistency in all facets when the schedule becomes more challenging in February.
“We have to figure out how to do everything well in one game,” Wade said. “I will be excited when we do that in just one game. We have a versatile team, which can win games in different ways.
“But, there is still a lot of work for us to do. There are no shortcuts. We have to lock down on details. We have to lock down on what we do. We just have to get better.”
LSU will try to extend its winning streak to eight games Wednesday in the PMAC against Georgia, which has lost four of its first five SEC games under new coach Tom Crean. The Tigers will heavy favorites to move to 5-0 in the conference. Don’t try to convince Wade that this contest will be easy for his team.
“We have nobody in our locker room who has beaten Georgia and they have a lot of guys who have beaten us,” Wade said. “Georgia blasted us there last year and we lost at home to them. We haven’t beaten Georgia in three years. That should be motivation enough for us.
“Every game is different. This is college basketball. We have to win (Monday) with a good practice and good workouts. We have to win practice (Tuesday), so we will be in position to play well Wednesday against Georgia. We can’t look very far ahead.”
The Bulldogs have lost all four of their SEC games by double digits. Georgia allowed more than 90 points in two of those four defeats. The Bulldogs scored fewer than 55 points in three of the losses. Post player Nicolas Claxton is Georgia’s most productive starter – averaging 12.4 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
“Georgia is very long,” Wade said. “They start 6-8, 6-9, 6-11 up front. They pack their defense in which is something we have not seen this season. They are the opposite of South Carolina which extends its defense.
“Georgia killed us on the backboards last year and they have the same guys except for (Yante) Maten. We have to do a better job.”
