Hey Tigers, who ya gonna call to get to the Sweet 16?
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – In vintage fashion of LSU’s 2019 fight-to-the-finish SEC champions, all was lost here Saturday afternoon until it was found by the Tigers’ two veteran guards who refused to lose.
When LSU trailed Maryland by two points with 1:46 left in an NCAA tournament East Region second-round matchup, Skylar Mays did Skylar Mays things and Tremont Waters did Tremont Waters things.
Which was Mays hitting two free throws after a vicious offensive rebound battle and then swishing a cold-blooded game-tying three, followed by Waters squeezing through the Maryland defense for a game-winning layup with 1.6 seconds left for a 69-67 victory that sends the Tigers to next Friday’s Sweet 16 semifinal in Washington. D.C.
Mays’ 3-pointer with 40 seconds remaining for a 67-64 lead was answered by Maryland freshman Jalen Smith’s first successful 3-pointer of the day with 25.8 seconds left.
LSU dribbled the ball past halfcourt, called time with 19.5 seconds left and then put the ball in Waters’ hands for the final play, a simple high screen by Naz Reid which allowed Waters to drive right, turn the corner and find daylight to the basket.
“In the moment, I kind of blacked out,” Waters said. “I faked the ball to Sky and at that point I just zoned out. I didn’t hear anything, I just knew I had to get to the rim. When Naz set a great screen, I was able to get around his man and my man. Once that happened, all I could think was `finish.’ ”
Like so many games for the 28-6 Tigers this season, what appeared to be a comfortable lead of 15 points for LSU with 16 minutes left against the Terps evaporated when Maryland switched to a 3-2 zone defense.
The befuddled Tigers went from taking Maryland defenders off the dribble in the Terps’ man-to-man defense to misfiring a string of deep 3-pointers.
In a 10:08 span during a Maryland 26-9 scoring run that turned a 46-31 LSU lead into a 57-55 Terps’ edge with 5:52 left, the Tigers made just 1-of-19 field goals attempts including 1-of-10 3s.
When Mays knocked in a 3-pointer for a 60-60 tie with 4:23 remaining, LSU snapped out of its funk and was primed for the usual late-game battle which it has relished all season.
“They’re not afraid of the moment,” LSU interim coach Tony Benford said of his team. “With about three minutes left, Skylar said, `Coach, Coach, we’re going to be okay, we’re going to win the game.’ ”
Then, Mays went out and scored LSU’s next five points, the Tigers had the ball for the last possession in a tie game and Maryland coach Mark Turgeon didn't have to guess which Tiger would have the ball and game in is hands.
“The players knew exactly what was coming,” said Turgeon, whose team finished the season 23-11. “We all knew what was coming. It was whether we were going to be able to stop it or not. The kid (Waters) just made a heckuva play.”
Waters finished with 12 points and five assists. Mays, as he did in LSU’s first-round win Thursday over Yale, led the Tigers with 16 points. Reid had 13 points and Darius Days’ 10 points spurred LSU’s 26-13 advantage in bench points.
Maryland had four or five starters finish in double figures, led by Smith with 15 points.
LSU shot just 36.8 percent from the field, including just 28.6 in the second half when the Tigers made only 3-of-14 threes. But LSU’s defense – it held Maryland to 33.3 percent from the field – and the Tigers’ 14-of-16 free throw shooting compared to 16-of-23 for the Terps proved to be the difference.
After leading by as many as 15 points with 1:35 left on the first half on a Reid dunk off a pick-and-roll Waters assist, Maryland scored two 3s in the final 1:01 to cut LSU’s lead to 38-29 at halftime.
The way the Tigers played defensively, limiting Maryland to 28.6 field goal shooting, they should have had a healthy double-digit lead. But Maryland corralled seven offensive rebounds, mostly deep caroms off 3-point misses that LSU couldn’t track down.
Benford and the Tigers’ staff did a superb job of substituting, keeping fresh, aggressive legs on the floor and helping the Tigers’ starters stay out of foul trouble.
It was imperative that Reid and Bigby-Williams not be saddled with foul problems, having to battle Maryland’ 6-10 twin towers Bruno Fernando and Smith. Reid and Bigby-Williams made it through the first half with a foul each while Fernando had one and Smith had two.
LSU’s bench came up huge in the opening half, outscoring the Maryland reserves 20-11. Nine of the Terps’ bench points came from guard Aaron Wiggins, who made three of Maryland's 5-of-18 in the first 20 minutes.
The question heading into the second half for LSU was one it has faced all season. Could the Tigers main intensity, focus and aggression and avoid wandering into an offense settling for too many outside shots?
LSU came right back out in the second half and kept attacking. The Tigers’ initial three baskets in a 6-2 run for a 44-31 advantage in first 3:54 before Maryland called timeout were two fearless Waters drives and a Bigby-Williams’ first points of the game on a layup via a Waters assist.
The Tigers’ fan following, trying to inspire the team to maintain their relentless effort, began chanting “44. . .44. . .44. .,” the number of LSU forward Wayde Sims who was shot and killed just before the start of preseason practice.
Shortly thereafter, a frustrated Turgeon, who had spent most of his time until that point lamenting his team’s shot selection and screaming at his guards to retreat quicker on defense to slow down Waters, was hit with a technical foul at the start of the 16-minute media timeout.
Trailing LSU by 15 points, the technical was Maryland’s cue to switch to a 3-2 zone defense and the Tigers began immediately sinking.
The zone negated the Tigers’ ability to beat Maryland defenders off the dribble in 1-on-1. LSU’s offense was a hot mess of missed 3-pointers until it made just enough plays capped by Waters’ game-winner to live to play at least one more NCAA tourney game next week.
“That’s what we do,” Mays said. “At the end of the day, we’re rolling. Survive-and-advance.”