Not a good night for LSU. All of this team's deficiencies glared in a big way tonight. We aren't deep. We aren't experienced. We aren't sharp shooters yet, either.
LSU was out-manned, out-physicaled, out-rebounded, out-blocked, you name it. LSU was out-everythinged.
Things got bad early when Storm was tagged with three fouls before ten minutes passed. Even in his limited minutes, he was our best performer, grabbing a team-high 16 points, a team-high 6 boards and a tied-with-Taz-for-team-high 2 blocks before fouling out. He is too valuable to be in foul trouble. Unfortunately, his double-doubles streak has snapped.
Bo Spencer was ice cold tonight, gaining just 5 points on 2-14 shooting while committing 5 turnovers. He was 0-4 from behind the arc. Shake it off, Bo.
As a team, LSU continues to struggle behind the arc, going just 2-10 tonight. Unfortunately, that is pretty much even with our season average.
Dennis Harris also got into foul trouble, and he finished with just 4 points and 1 rebound. Garrett Green continues to struggle offensively, getting just 3 points on 1-5 shooting. He did grab 4 rebounds, but he just can't keep missing those easy put-ins.
As I commented earlier, I like Eddie Ludwig. He's raw, he's a true freshman after all, but he can ball. Ludwig a.k.a. Ed the Red, Gingerbeast, etc. finished with 6 points and was second for the Tigers with 5 rebounds.
Taz still isn't playing like the star we need him to. Marcus Thornton had a slow start last year as well, so hopefully Taz will turn it on when the time comes.
Just a tough night all around. LSU was beaten both inside and out. The good news is that the season is still young, and LSU definitely gained some valuable experience against a team that is one of the best in the nation.
Once again, it's an accomplishment for Trent to get the Tigers to New York, and we've still got another game to play, the next one against Duke or Arizona State, whichever one loses the game that's going on right now. It's disheartening for fans to watch the Tigers to get so gutted by a team that was simply better on national television, but we need to stand by our team. They need us.
The Tigers have their work cut out for them. They're a very flawed team, but the talent is there. It won't always be pretty, but this rough season will help the Tigers in the long run. GEAUX TIGERS.