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LSU's Season Still Far From Over

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The Tampa Tribune

The Tampa Tribune

Published: March 15, 2009

TAMPA - Mississippi State might have ended LSU's hopes of winning the SEC Tournament, but the Tigers triumphed before their 67-57 semifinals loss.

LSU (26-7) entered this tournament as the regular-season SEC champion and already has an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers could have become a No. 3 seed by winning this tournament, but likely will be seeded around sixth or seventh because of Saturday's loss.

"Full body of work always carries weight for me. Full body of work," LSU coach Trent Johnson said. "Three days, two days, is that more important than 21/2, 3 months?"

The Tigers were 13-3 against SEC opponents in the regular season and have been ranked since mid-February in The Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches polls.

Even though LSU's season will continue next week, the Tigers are disappointed about not winning the SEC Tournament.

"It's going to be hard for us to really look ahead," guard Tasmin Mitchell said. "We know what's ahead, but it's going to be hard for us to look ahead because Coach always taught us to think about the present. ... Next week or so, we might be happy to see where we're at in the NCAA Tournament, but right now we're just focused on this loss."
BLOW THE WHISTLE
LSU received more than a slap on the wrist every time it actually committed the act during Saturday's game.

The Tigers were called for 26 fouls, while the Bulldogs were whistled 13 times. As a result, Mississippi State went to the free-throw line 35 times, making 24, compared to 13 trips for LSU.

"Tonight we drove the ball and didn't settle for 3-pointers," Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said.

"I would say 16 3-point attempts would be a season low for us. ... That stat 35 free-throw attempts right there tells you two things: You're getting the ball to the paint two different ways, from the pass, which is the way we did it the first time these teams played, but this time we got it on the pass and got it on the dribble, and that was huge for us."

Anwar S. Richardson

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