LSU 80, Mocs 67

The Mocs came up one run short on Tuesday night. They trimmed the lead to 55-53 halfway through the second half, but the Tigers responded with a 19-4 run, and put the game out of reach.

There was plenty to be excited about with the Mocs tonight. Z Mason set a career high in points with 22, and Rico White had a big night with 17. It was a good day for those two Mocs.

Also, the Mocs did a decent job on the glass against the very big LSU team. I really worried that the Mocs would get smoked on the boards by the Tigers tonight. Yes, the Mocs lost the rebounding battle by seven, but that's not too bad considering how good of a rebounding team the Tigers are supposed to be.

The Mocs only turned the ball over fifteen times. That may not sound like much of an accomplishment, but after seven turnovers to start the game against Eastern Kentucky, fifteen for a whole game against another defense that has been forcing a lot of turnovers is impressive.

The Mocs defense allowed LSU to shoot 54.8 eFG%. That is not good enough to win many games against almost anyone. That continues to be one of the Mocs problem areas. They look good and aggressive playing defense, but they really are not any better than they have been in recent years at defense. The offense has also been mediocre, but looked  much smoother tonight, other than one time towards the end of the first half when LSU went the 22-7 run (to go from down 23-20 to up 42-30) when the Mocs feel too in love with the three. It didn't last long, but it was damaging to the Mocs chances of winning the game.

The question here has got to be asked- why do the Mocs play better on the road than at home? The Mocs three best games of the year have all come away from McKenzie Arena- the battles and eventual losses to Kansas and LSU and the lone D1 win over Kennesaw State.

My bet is that the Mocs are young, and need energy from the crowd to get going. It does not matter if it is negative energy or positive energy. Right now, the energy is almost non-existent in McKenzie Arena. So the Mocs have nothing to feed off of, and don't play well. As the Mocs don't play well at home, the fans become less and less energetic. Can the Mocs start winning at home to get the crowd behind them in a positive way? That needs to start on Sunday against Mercer.

So, here we go again. Where do the Mocs go from here after an OK performance in Baton Rouge? We'll just have to wait and see.

Casey Jones and Gee McGhee combined to score 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists in their homecoming to Louisiana. Hope they enjoyed playing there.

GO MOCS!