by www.LSUsports.net, LSU Sports Interactive
BATON ROUGE -- Sixth-ranked LSU failed to find a way to hold the lead down the stretch as No. 24 Wichita State knocked off its second consecutive 2006 Final Four team in an eight-day period, 57-53, Saturday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Shockers (4-0) downed George Mason on its home court last Saturday afternoon, 72-66, before coming to Baton Rouge and taking the Tigers (2-1) down.
Glen Davis led LSU with 17 points and 13 rebounds and Darnell Lazare added 11. Wichita State spread the majority of its scoring among five players -- Ryan Martin 12, P. J. Couisnard and Karon Bradley 11 and Kyle Wilson and Phillip Thomasson 10 each.
LSU moved out quickly against the Shockers opening a 14-4 advantage 9:30 into the contest on a jumper by Magnum Rolle and had an 11-point, 18-7 advantage on another layup by Rolle with 9:10 to go in the first half. But turnovers and missed shots allowed Wichita State to get back into the game before a banking three-pointer by Tack Minor gave LSU a 29-23 advantage at the intermission.
In the second half, Wichita State continued to put the pressure on LSU offensively, asking the Tigers to again and again make the stop. With LSU's offense sputtering, the pressure to make the play was mounting with every possession.
The Shockers cut the game to one, 39-38, with 9:49 to play, but Garrett Temple hit a three and the lead was again four. Four times, Wichita State would cut it to two and they finally got the game even at the 4:09 mark when Martin got a second offensive rebound of the possession and scored to even the game at 48-48.
Lazare would make two free throws to put LSU back up, 50-48 at the 3:49 mark, but LSU would miss a golden opportunity to up the lead when Tasmin Mitchell missed two free throws at the 2:31 mark. Lazare would foul on the rebound and Wilson dropped in two free throws to tie the game at 50-50.
After a Lazare miss, Bradley hit a jumper with 1:49 to play to give Wichita State their first lead at 52-50. LSU missed two three pointers before the Tigers were forced to foul and Bradley made two free throws to make it 54-50 with 23 seconds to go. LSU never got closer from three the rest of the way.
In the second half, LSU was just 8-of-24 from the field, 1-of-5 from the arc and 7-of-13 at the free throw line with nine turnovers. For the game Wichita State shot a consistent 24-of-52 for the game, including 13-of-28 in the second half and 7-of-8 at the free throw line. Ironically, in a rarity, neither team advanced to the free throw line for a shot in the first 20 minutes of play.
"When you have to put every possession on your defense to win the game it makes it much more difficult to win the game," said LSU Coach John Brady. "We did not do anything consistently well on offense. We had some opportunities, but we just didn't execute as well as (Wichita) did. On offense we have to be more patient and execute better if we are going to beat a team as talented and as well coached as Wichita State."
The Tigers play against on Wednesday night against McNeese State at 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Tickets are available online at www.LSUsports.net. Those fans bringing a new or used coat or a $5 donation for the "Pat's Coats For Kids" program will receive a coupon to buy a ticket for just $1.
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY QUOTES
Opening statement...
“One thing we did well is I thought we defended them well, particularly in the first half and than for most of the second half. When you have to put every possession on your defense, it makes it much more difficult to win the game. We did not do anything consistently well on offense. We had some opportunities, but we just didn’t execute as well as they did. They were tougher than we were for the most part I thought. In the second half we shot 8-24 from the field, 1-5 from three and 7-13 from the free throw line you can’t expect to win the game with those stats. We got to the free throw line 13 times in the second half but we weren’t able to produce the baskets that were necessary. I thought the effort on defense was good but we need to improve on offense. On offense we have to be more patient and execute better if we are going to beat a team as talented and as well coached as Wichita State.”
On the team’s shooting...
“We have to make more outside shots because it is going to be hard to get the ball in the post without hitting outside shots. In the second half, we weren’t able to hit enough outside shots to where we could operate around the basket. It seemed like it was all a struggle offensively. We never really had any rhythm on offense. Certainly they defended us well, but we still had some opportunities to make some plays but we weren’t able to capitalize on them.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On whether Wichita State played tougher ...
"Yeah, it really does. It's a veteran team that we have. To see somebody out tough us, out play us in our building in front of our fans is a tough thing to take, but we have to take it and come back to practice tomorrow and get back to the drawing board and get better for Wednesday."
On if it surprised him how well Karon Bradley played at the end ...
"Not really. They put the ball in his hands, and he got to the free throw line. He's really good at taking the basket, and he made big plays; he made big free throws, something I've always known him to be able to do."
On if some of his teammates were hesitant to shoot the ball at the end ...
"I don't think so. I don't think we were nervous. I think we just fell out of a rhythm in the second half. I don't if we even got into a good rhythm besides the beginning of the game, but we fell out of a rhythm. We just lost because we couldn't hit shots. We were trying to force things, but we just lost."
On if Wichita State out-toughed them ...
"They executed and played well. They're a veteran team. We're not a young team by any means, but they executed their stuff. They came in here, played tough in the second half and basically methodically beat us in the second half."
On if the guys were hesitant to shoot at the end ...
"He (Coach Brady) was telling us to get the ball inside and penetrate the ball. He wanted to get the ball in to Glen (Davis) and get a foul, and Darnell (Lazare) did a good job getting an offensive rebound when (Dameon) Mason took it to the rack. But at the end we tried to get a three pointer up. Glen got one up, but we missed. We were trying to get the ball inside because on the first play of the second half we got the ball inside and got a three point play. That was our bread and butter, but we didn't get any real good open looks out of the double team, and they double teamed Glen a lot in the second half. We had a little trouble with that. We weren't getting the spots right, but overall they just beat us."
WICHITA STATE HEAD COACH MARK TURGEON
On beating two straight teams from last year's Final Four ...
"The key two words there is last year. It is a different year. I was proud of our group. We've done it on the road too. You see a lot of upsets happening out there but not many of them are on the road games. We played in a tough environment last week, and we did it here."
On the key to victory ...
"Defense. We don't do this very often, but we came out scared and a little intimidated. They played at a high level defensively most of the game, especially at the start. We were walking on egg shells. I was just begging them to play hard. I told them at halftime, I just want to be able to look ourselves in the mirror after the game and say that we tried as hard as we could. We did that in the second half. We did a great job on the big fellow (Glen Davis), double-teaming. We had a 6-foot-5 guy guarding him. Ryan (Martin) did a great job. It's hard to rebound when you are giving up five inches to every player out there. Our guys did a nice job in the second half and held our own. We got just enough defense rebounds and stops to win the game."
On having offensive success in the paint ...
"That's just what we do. We have a system and we run it. We don't care who we are playing. We are not going to change. We might make minor changes but not big changes. I felt like at the start of the second half, we were in a little bit better shape than they were. We were asking out big guys to run. We just did a good job of posting up. Our guys did a good job of looking in. We got some easy ones, some open ones, which we weren't getting in the first half. I think it just came down to toughness and being in good shape. Our guys did a great job finishing in there. We had to because we were having trouble scoring."
On comparing George Mason to LSU ...
"LSU is a lot further along than (George) Mason right now because they have four starters back. They have an All-American, maybe a lottery pick. They are both tremendous teams. Both teams will probably be in the NCAA Tournament."
WICHITA STATE PLAYER QUOTES
F Ryan Martin
On the key to victory ...
"I think it was our team toughness. Coach (Turgeon) has been preaching to us all year that if we stuck together as a team that we can do anything. That comes from practice because we practice so hard. We are becoming more of a team everyday."
On defending LSU's Glen Davis ...
"It was a team effort. He's a wide body. I was just trying to limit his touches. Defense was the key today big time. We practice on that everyday. Coach was saying after the game that we practice on defense enough, we should play it well enough. That is the truth."
