From first to worst, and in a hurry.
After cruising to the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball title last season with a 13-3 league record — the next best mark was 10-6 — LSU has lost its first five conference games this year and is 9-10 overall. Three of the five league losses have occurred in Baton Rouge, with two of those by double digits.
The Tigers must travel this week to Alabama and to Mississippi State.
“We’re in a situation where we’re just trying to find a way to win a basketball game,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said Monday. “Contrary to our record in conference and our record overall, the last three games, if there is a silver lining, we have improved in some aspects.
“It’s a pretty frustrated group, but they continue to come out and try to work, and that’s the only thing I can ask of them right now.”
The Tigers are essentially defending their SEC crown with three players. Senior forward Tasmin Mitchell leads the team with 17.9 points per game, while junior guard Bo Spencer and sophomore forward Storm Warren (13.5) are averaging 15.3 and 13.5, but no other Tiger is averaging more than 4.5.
“Frustration is one thing, but how you deal with it is the other thing,” Johnson said. “Adversity is what it is. It doesn’t build your character; it reveals your character.”
The East beasts
Two of the SEC’s three NCAA tournament representatives last March were from the Western Division, but it is shaping up differently this year. The East is 11-3 so far in head-to-head matchups against the West, which may have gotten a break with Ole Miss and Mississippi State already having faced Georgia.
“Early on, I had said I felt like there were five teams in the East that were NCAA tournament-capable,” Tennessee’s Bruce Pearl said. “I think now Georgia has shown that, despite the fact they have eight losses at this point, they’re going to be reckoned with. They’re somebody that the league obviously has taken notice of.”
Vandy’s big week
No. 21 Vanderbilt and No. 1 Kentucky enter this week as the only teams undefeated in SEC play, and they meet Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena. The Commodores visit No. 14 Tennessee on Wednesday, making this quite the statement stretch for Kevin Stallings and his club.
“Obviously these are tremendous challenges in front of us, but with tremendous challenges come tremendous opportunities” Stallings said. “The only thing we can control is how we approach our days of preparation.”
Odds and ends
Georgia sophomore guard/forward Travis Leslie was named Monday as the SEC player of the week after tallying 19 points, nine rebounds and a career-high seven assists Saturday against Tennessee. … Mississippi State had won nine consecutive SEC games dating back to last season before Saturday’s loss to Alabama.