Welcome everyone to the latest edition of #3OT where I break down what went right and what went wrong for the LSU Tigers. Today, I look at their loss to the Auburn Tigers.
1st OT: Blakeney Plays Through the Pain
After Saturday’s matchup, it was uncertain whether or not Antonio Blakeney would see the court or not against Auburn. Thankfully for LSU he was able to play and he was able to put together 30 solid minutes of basketball. His numbers considering his recent injury and his status being relatively unknown before this game were great with 13 points and five boards. However, most of his teammates had a bad night and the amount of inconsistency on this team is a big reason for this recent skid. Blakeney will need to become a leader on this team if they want to get back on the winning side of things.
2nd OT: Poor Defense off the Break
LSU’s defense was decent with six steals and two blocks on the night. However, they were awful when it came to stopping Auburn off the fast break as they were able to get 16 points. Most nights, they are able to shut down that aspect of a team’s offense, but it felt like this team couldn’t defend in that aspect. Most of the time when you allow 40.9 percent from the field, you usually win. This was not one of those situations thanks to a mixture of bad defense off the break and allowing more trips to the line.
3rd OT: Epps and Flows
Aaron Epps on Wednesday was a mixed bag as he started slow, but came on strong in the second half. One of the big reasons LSU was unable to get the lead back late in the game was because of two straight misses from beyond the arc. It was not a good night on the whole for LSU as it usually is from three-point range as they would go 6-of-26 on the night. The two straight misses would allow Auburn to put the game officially out of reach and give their head coach Bruce Pearl his 500th career win. LSU football fans will talk about the Auburn game this season being a turning point in the season. Perhaps this game will be a turning point in the season for the same reason it was on the football field.
-Clint Domingue