This one was even more painful than the meltdown against UConn.
It started off so well, too. The story of the first half was walk-on Zach Kinsley, who got 12 points that half. He closed the half by sinking a 3 that allowed LSU to go to the locker room with a 34-27 lead.
And then everything went wrong. LSU just couldn't sink shots in the 2nd half, and Arizona State got iron-hot. Arizona State got 44 second-half points. LSU got 17.
So where does the blame lie? Arizona State started covering Kinsley much closer in the second half, and none of the other guys were able to step up. Taz had a fine game scoring-wise (17 points, 3 rebounds) and Storm continues being great (13 points, 7 boards, 2 blocks).
Aaron Dotson scored 5 points, including a 3-pointer in the first half.
That's where the good news ends. Chris Bass? 0 points. Dennis Harris? 0 points. Eddie Ludwig and Garrett Green also combined for 0 points. The only points that weren't scored by Mitchell, Warren, Kinsley and Dotson were scored by walk-on Chris Beattie on a well-we're-gonna-lose-so-I-might-as-well-shoot-it 3-pointer in the final seconds. This needs to change.
The good news is that Kinsley has stepped up. I would like to see Kinsley continue to get starts at the 2 so Spencer, when he returns, can return to playing Point Guard. Hopefully, Kinsley can complement Bo as a perimeter shooter.
It's nice for LSU to be playing a game in the Madison Square Garden on national TV, but this is hardly the showing I wanted.
Please remember, we're still very, very young. Of the 7 scholarship players that played today, 3 were freshmen, and 3 were sophomores. Taz was the lone upperclassmen. Even Kinsley is just a sophomore. And, we're underhanded, and that REALLY hurts when you have to play two games in 3 days, and the starters all have to play extended minutes. This will hurt us come Tourney time, and right now, I'm questioning if we're a March Madness team this year.
It's time for LSU to answer those questions.