Men’s Basketball Opens 2-0 to Start Season

So far so good for the Matt McMahon era

Oh hey by the way basketball season started.

Lost in all the hoopla of LSU beating Alabama two weekends ago, beating Arkansas this past weekend, and clinching the SEC West in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, the Matt McMahon era of LSU basketball officially began last week and the Tigers are 2-0.

LSU beat Kansas City 74-63 Wednesday night and Arkansas State 61-52 on Saturday (meaning LSU athletics went 2-0 against Arkansas schools this past Saturday). Now as Ben laid out last week, LSU’s non-conference slate is…well they’re not playing the Dream Team. Kansas City is ranked 296th nationally per KenPom and Arkansas State isn’t much better checking in at 274.

But still, you’d rather win these games than lose them (just ask Louisville who are 0-2 after losing to Bellarmine and Wright State) and LSU’s off to a perfect start in the post-Will Wade era.

Adam Miller officially made his LSU debut after tearing his ACL mere days before the start of the 2021-2022 season and so far he’s been the man for the Tigers. Miller scored 18 points against the Roos (going an impressive 4-9 from three) and then upped the scoring to 26 points against Arkansas State (where, get this, he went 4-9 from three for a second consecutive game).

What about our new friends who followed Coach McMahon from Murray State? KJ Williams has been a beast in the interior, posting a 13-14 double-double against Kansas City, and then scoring 15 against Arkansas State. Justice Hill had 13 points and seven assists in the opener and then 11 points and three against Arkansas State. He’s had 10 assists versus four turnovers through two games.

LSU will be back in the PMAC Thursday night against UNO. Tipoff is set for 7:00 and the game may be streamed via SEC Network+.