LSU Basketball "Rounding the Corner" as Regular Season Draws to a Close

Tigers get one more quad one opportunity to build momentum with Alabama coming to town on Saturday in the PMAC

LSU did so much right on Wednesday evening against No. 14 Arkansas that the end result was all the more disappointing for the Tigers' players, coaches and fans. 

Will Wade and his team have been in search of that late season "spark" that would propel the team into the postseason with a new sense of life. The Tigers made strides in a blowout win over Missouri and carried much of that same energy to a tough, hostile environment at Bud Walton Arena. But defensive breakdowns and foul calls down the stretch ultimately did the purple and gold in.

"We weren't solid enough defensively down the stretch, can't make the mistakes we made, can't do that if we're gonna win big games in tough environments," Wade said. "We're making some progress with how we need to play, we just weren't able to finish it off which is extremely disappointing."

The inability to finish games has been a nasty habit for this group that's gone 5-9 after a 15-1 start to the season. What's perhaps most difficult is pinning down one area the Tigers have been consistently poor in during the last six minutes of games because different areas are killing the team in each loss.

Free throws, rebounding, missed shots and most recently poor fouling down the stretch have led to some really difficult losses. Despite controlling the game in many of the areas and playing very well against Arkansas, LSU returns home with nothing to show for it.

"We played really well, really hard but there's no such thing as a moral victory," forward Tari Eason said. "It would've been great if we won, that's really how it feels. What we take from this is we gotta finish stronger. Our problem is not staying in a game it's finishing a game and we need to make strides in that area."

Senior forward Darius Days has been in all kinds of successful positions in his four years from a standings perspective. The Tigers have stood atop the SEC, been top four seeds in each of his previous three seasons.

But with the Tigers one game below .500 this is a different kind of position to be in heading into the SEC tournament where the purple and gold are set to play at least on Thursday instead of earning the double bye. Any kind of momentum this team can gain against Alabama on Saturday will be much needed.

"Almost getting back into a rhythm, we're getting back in the swing of things," Days said. "Just staying solid and getting back to where we were at the beginning of the year. It's that time to make different strides, clicking at the right time and getting ready to make a run in these next two tournaments."

LSU gets one more crack at a potential quad one win on Saturday when Alabama comes to town. Wade feels as though the Tigers have started to turn a corner in how they're playing but are in real need of a season ending win on senior day in the PMAC.

"I think we're playing closer to our potential, playing closer to how we played at the beginning of the year," Wade said. "We didn't get the result tonight to spring us forward but we're certainly rounding the corner as we head into March."