JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It’s happened so many times this year for LSU’s Southeastern Conference regular season basketball champions that you’re almost numb watching it.

The Tigers either are trying to maintain or build on a single-digit lead or overcome a single-digit deficit as games wind into the final six minutes.

At this point, LSU, like many teams, should react like rice in a pressure cooker, boiling over in mess of turnovers, forced shots and poor free throw shooting.

Everyone in the arena, whether in the friendly home confines of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center or in living hell road locales like Kentucky’s Rupp Arena, is on their feet bringing the sound level to a deafening roar.

But no one is a purple and gold uniform is flinching. In fact, LSU is in its comfort zone, a place where it calmly operates among the chaos that chokes the life out of lesser squads.

In the Tigers’ 17-3 record in 20 games since the start of SEC play, they are 11-1 when leading with six minutes left and 6-2 when trailing heading into the last six minutes.

“Six-minute games are when we go into our kill mode, when we do what we can do to get the win,” LSU freshman forward Emmitt Williams said.

Williams and the rest of the Tigers, even the assistant coaches, had never heard the phrase “six-minute games" until they gathered under the detail-oriented umbrella of second-year LSU coach Will Wade.

“Coach (Wade) has been huge his whole coaching career on getting into a six-minute game and winning that six-minute game,” LSU assistant Greg Heiar said. “His six-minute philosophy is also a philosophy to win NCAA tournament games. It’s helped him win a lot of games as a young coach and it’s really smart.”

Wade, still indefinitely suspended for refusing to meet with LSU officials about his alleged involvement in a federally investigated college basketball recruiting scandal, believes a team that wins the last six minutes of a game walks away victorious.

He has repeatedly said that he just wants his team to get to the final six minutes with a chance to win.

“Coach has three credos for winning six-minute games,” LSU junior guard Marshall Graves said. “Be solid on defense, make free throws and value the ball.”

It’s more than talk from Wade. Since his first LSU practices in October 2017, almost all of his team’s workouts have ended with a six-minute game.

Wade puts six minutes on the clock. He makes sure the scoreboard reads that his starting five begins with a deficit of five points or more. Then, he allows the Tigers’ scout team to be as physical as possible while rarely whistling fouls.

“When we first started doing it, I didn’t know why we were doing it but I see why now,” LSU freshman guard Javonte Smart said. “Coach told us most of time the refs won’t give us any calls.”

The objective of Wade’s almost daily six-minute games, which take place at the end of practices when fatigue is the greatest, is simple.

“The strain on our players is more mental than anything else,” LSU assistant Bill Armstrong said. “We’ve tried to build the mental aspect and they’ve done a great job buying into it.”

Tremont Waters, LSU's sophomore All-SEC first team guard, said the continuous six-minute game preparation has been invaluable.

“You can’t be rattled in those moments because that’s when your mind takes you all over the place and you do things you normally don’t do,” Waters said. “As long as you focus and are locked into the moment and been there before, you just can’t get riled up. When it happens, you’re prepared for the moment.”

The proof is in the winning and in the fact LSU has outscored opponents 274-229 in the final six minutes of regulation in the last 20 games since the start of SEC play.

Also, in the six games in that stretch which involved overtimes, the Tigers hold a scoring edge of 67-53 in the extra five-minute periods.

Then, there’s this: In the last six minutes of regulation and in overtime since the Tigers’ SEC opener Jan. 8 vs. Alabama, LSU has made a combined 106-of-133 free throws (79.6 percent).

“When you’re prepared for something, you have high expectations when you get in that type of situation,” LSU junior guard Skylar Mays said.

So, the Tigers have one mindset heading into the final 360 seconds.

“We live,” LSU junior guard Marlon Taylor said, “for six-minute games.