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Auburn jumped out to a 19 point lead before the second media timeout of the game, and any bit of the game worth watching was done at that point. Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers improve to 19-2 (7-1) after the gruesome shellacking, while Will Wade’s Tigers fall to 12-8 (3-5).
By halftime, Auburn led 51-32 behind their usual fast-paced attack. At that point, they had attempted ten more shots than LSU in the field, and made ten more three pointers. Auburn’s sharp shooting aside, LSU fell behind and stayed behind because of the issue that’s been haunting the Tigers throughout conference play: rebounding. And this is a special kind of embarrassing rebounding effort, considering how well LSU’s size matched up with Auburn’s smaller lineup.
The game just trudged on through the rest of the game, as though both teams weren’t too thrilled about the formality of a second half. It was honestly not worth watching at all if you’re an LSU fan, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Auburn is first in the SEC standings for a reason, and they showed why tonight. LSU is just not ready to compete against teams with this kind of talent.
On a positive note, Duop Reath led LSU in scoring again with 18 points, and added 3 rebounds and an assist to boot. Skylar Mays, usually one to hold on to the ball and take shots for himself, actually led LSU in assists tonight with 5, and tacked on 10 points.
Tremont Waters finished with only 4 points, didn’t dish out a single assist, and turned the ball over six times. This was the first time this season he finished a game without a single assist, and his six turnovers are the most since turning the ball over seven times against UNC-Wilmington. The Tigers are now 4-4 in games where Waters don’t score at least ten points.
It’s a far cry from the win over Texas A&M earlier this week, but it’s a reality we need to learn for the rest of the season: LSU just cannot compete against really good, well-coached teams. Our level of talent just isn’t there yet. You can drink a chaser by looking at our recruiting class if you want to, in fact I’d recommend it.
The Tigers will try to move on from this blowout, but their next opponent doesn’t make things any easier. LSU remains on the road for their next contest, traveling to Knoxville to take on the #22 Tennessee Volunteers Wednesday night. The Volunteers are 15-5 (5-3) as they spent this afternoon beating Iowa State.