LSU Tigers snatch a thrilling overtime victory over the South Carolina Gamecocks, fueled by clutch plays and a resilient team effort despite key player absence.
Coming off an embarrassing home loss and with news of DJ Thomas missing another game with injury, hopes weren't high for the LSU Tigers as they traveled to take on the South Carolina Gamecocks. The Tigers answered as well as they could with a 92-87 overtime win.
LSU improves to 14-8 on the year and 2-7 in SEC play. One win won't turn their season around, but overcoming the loss of Thomas and being able to beat another one of the other bottom-of-the-conference teams should help with some confidence.
It was a team effort in overtime as no one player really stood out. Max Mackinnon hit a big three, Rashad King went 5-for-6 at the charity stripe and Pablo Tamba hit three free throws as well.
MacKinnon deserves a lot of credit in this game as he stepped up and did a nice job of the distributor role with Thomas out. The Aussie tied his career-high and hit a new season-high of eight assists. He also added 15 points and two blocks.
Mike Nwoko led all Tigers scorers and tied for the game high with 21 points on 9-of-13 from the field. Nwoko's presence on the court has decided some matches. He doesn't create much for himself, but he does a great job of finishing when there is someone to set him up.
LSU is 1-4 in Nwoko's five lowest-scoring outings of the year. He leads the SEC in field goal percentage.
King was another Tiger that was all over the place in this one, starting in place of Thomas. He set season-highs with 18 points and seven rebounds.
It wasn't a perfect showing for LSU. They still let the Gamecocks rack up 14 offensive boards (18 second-chance points) and lost the turnover battle, but a win is a win at this point.
The Tigers have a bit of a break and will return home for their next game against the Georgia Bulldogs on February 7. It'll be another tough matchup as they sit at 16-6, but are 4-5 in conference play.
There's no telling if anything can really save this season or the Matt McMahon era in Baton Rouge, but they certainly can't afford any more losses.