LSU Basketball Thriving on "Chaos" as Team Gets Back to Even Par in SEC Play

Latest finish to Kentucky game was another classic for this team under Will Wade

If there's one thing we've learned about LSU basketball come SEC play, it's that no win comes without its fair share of drama. The Tigers under Will Wade have produced some of the most bewildering finishes in the conference since Wade took over in 2017.

Think back to the Tremont Waters three to knock off Texas A&M at the buzzer in 2018, or the 14-point comeback with 2:08 remaining against Missouri in 2019, the Kavell Bigby-Williams tip in during the final seconds of the Kentucky game later that season, the SEC Tournament Championship last season against Alabama. The Tigers have won in all kinds of ways throughout the Wade era and added another exhilarating chapter on Tuesday night.

No. 21 LSU's (13-1, 1-1) 65-60 win over the No. 16 Kentucky Wildcats included a final sequence that even national analyst Jay Bilas had a hard time believing. 

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It was a final 24 seconds that absolutely belongs in the conversation as one of the more exciting finishes of the Wade era and the first taste of "chaos" this 2021 team has handled. Minutes after the narrow win to get the program back to .500, players had a hard time putting into words what those last few moments were like on the floor.

“I feel like we have guys in our rotation that really build off the pressure and the chaos," guard Xavier Pinson said. "Coach (Will Wade) preaches it all the time, whenever we get down and whenever they make a run, we know teams are going to make a run, we know that things are going to happen throughout the game in most scenarios in the SEC, so we’re really just ready for whatever, try to bounce back as quick as possible.

"Yeah, it was a wild finish. Obviously, it wasn’t exactly the way we drew it up, but you know at the end of the day a win is a win," forward Tari Eason said. "That’s what we wanted and that’s what we came out with. We'll go back and watch film and there are things we need to fix, little things that we can correct obviously, because those moments are pretty important, but a win is a win. It was a real important bounce-back game, especially after the last one (Auburn).”

It was a game LSU had to win after the disappointment with the SEC opener at Auburn. For coach Will Wade, he was pleased with how his team responded in the face of adversity on Tuesday. Kentucky came out and pounced on the Tigers to start the second half, leading by as many as nine at one point. 

But the composure that LSU lost down the stretch against Auburn had an inverse effect against the Wildcats as the purple and gold responded with a 20-2 run to seize control and ultimately hold on to the win. The finish to the game after grabbing control is still an area LSU must work to uphold as Kentucky got dangerously close to an overtime situation before those final nails in the coffin.  

“We have been able to work our way through it most of the year," Wade said of the chaotic finish to the game. "We were able to figure it out tonight, but we have to be a little bit more disciplined with things.”