No. 19 LSU is about to shoot up the rankings after an incredibly impressive 73-71 win over the 5th team in the nation, the storied Kentucky Wildcats. It was a total team effort with four Tigers in double digit scoring, and ended on a dramatic tip in finish by Kavell Bigby-Williams. Tiger Rag Assistant Editor Tyler Nunez says it’s a historic win that will sit in the pantheon of great LSU basketball moments.
“LSU has had big wins in the past, think about the 2000 win against number one Arizona, there’s been some NCAA tournament wins like ones against Duke and Texas in 2006, but largely those have been flashes in the pan. This one feels different to me.”
Guard Tremont Williams led the team with 15 points and five assists.
The team was down by nine at one point in the second half, but rallied back to be in a position to seal the game on an offensive rebound facilitated by a Skylar Mays last second drive. The win puts them one game back in the SEC, and Nunez says you’ll almost certainly be seeing this team in March.
“Will Wade is in his second year, recruited one of the top recruiting classes in the country, and turned it into what looks like not a powerhouse, but a national contender now.”
Number one Tennessee sits atop the SEC, riding an 18 game win streak.
Nunez says there’s a lot of basketball left to be played this year, but a team full of freshman wining a grind-it-out contest against a historic and highly ranked opponent sends a strong signal to fans, and the rest of the NCAA.
“If this is the beginning of a golden era in LSU basketball, I think that this is the game that we are all going to look back on and say, this is what started it, this was Will Wade’s coming out party, and this was the beginning of something special.”
For their next game, LSU takes on Georgia Saturday at 5pm in Athens.
