LSU 38, A&M 71: Titanic Meltdown

That was really tough to watch.

A&M came out like shit on offense, but LSU couldn't capitalize. The Aggies knew Patterson was the only real catch and shoot threat, and schemed their defense around that, negating his ability to stay on the floor. A&M made a run around the half-way mark of the first half, and LSU looked completely lost to find even a decent shot. Simmons stopped being aggressive whenever Tyler Davis got switched on to him, and generally there wasn't the sense of urgency amongst the team that there needed to be for this to be a win.

LSU was almost equally bad on offense to start, but just couldn't find shots as opposed to missing good ones like A&M. Simmons tried to be aggressive to start, but his aversion to jump shooting really hamstrings the team's spacing. You need to surround Simmons with three great shooters and a rim protecting/diving big, and LSU really has none of those things. Quarterman has been awful, and without having at least Hornsby spotting up, you're just not going to have much room to work with around Benny. Blakeney can shoot, but really operates best with the ball in his hands.

How these guys haven't been better coached up on how to contest at the rim, without fouling, I have no idea. Victor particularly gives up bad bad fouls far too regularly. They were sloppy all around, but it's the ticky-tack stuff around the rim that really killed this team this season. Benny picks up two late in the first half, and A&M started to gain separation. A&M did a great job of limiting LSU's transition, which killed the flow of their offense. This game contained some of the worst half-court offensive possessions I've seen in my life during that abysmal 14-minute scoring drought. They basically stopped playing. Like, they actually pretty much gave up. The game was over after that. Just like everyone wishes this embarrassment of a season was too.

I can't even offer much of an analysis for the second half, as we clearly saw a defeated team take on an elite one. A&M is no joke, and while I don't see them as a threat for a final four, I could definitely see a nice little sweet sixteen run. None of this to play down the loss by any means, but A&M really ran some great stuff in the second half, and got a plethora of open threes, back-door lobs, and easy lay-ups as a result. This was a game won by Billy Kennedy's team more than anything else.

Goodness gracious did Jones get taken out to the woodshed by Kennedy in this one. I'm not going to harp on it anymore, but yeah, they definitely should have fired Jones by now. He's a terrible in-game coach. And this was an embarrassment.

Sure, they'll get the NIT, but if I was Simmons, and I'm not kidding or being facetious here, I would do everything I could to get the hell out of Baton Rouge and away from Johnny Jones immediately. The BS experiment was a failure, it's time for everyone to move on, especially Benny. All things being equal, in an ideal world, I'd probably turn down the invitation to the NIT if I was Alleva/Jones. Why further the embarrassment?