LSU men's basketball opens McMahon era with a win

No wanted to put on a show more in LSU men’s basketball head coach Matt McMahon’s debut Wednesday night than Adam Miller.

It had been 18½ months since Miller, an Illinois transfer guard who sat out last season at LSU with a knee injury sustained in preseason practice, fed off a live crowd in a college arena.

“There were some dark times to get to this moment, but Coach Mac and the whole coaching staff believed in me,” said Miller, who scored a team-high 18 points in the Tigers’ 74-63 victory over Kansas City before a Pete Maravich Assembly Center crowd of 9,338. “I didn’t know what to expect until I got out there. But I’ve been playing this game for so long, I just went out there and do what I do.”

While the win counted in the win-loss column, it had the feel of an exhibition game. The Tigers and the ‘Roos had a combined 26 new players – 12 for LSU and 14 for the ‘Roos – and first-year head coaches McMahon and Marvin Menzies of Kansas City flooded the court with various lineup combinations.

"There were a lot of positives to take away," McMahon said. "Field goal percentage defense (KC shot 32.8 percent) and 3-point defense (16 percent for KC) are important stats for us. But we got hurt on the offensive glass (11 leading to 9 KC points), put them on the (free throw) line too often (KC was 21 of 27) and we really made some eye opening poor decisions that led to turnovers (15 including 5 in the game's last 10 minutes) and allow them to hang around."

By halftime, foul trouble forced McMahon to play 11 of his 12 scholarship players. His starting lineup was Miller, returnee junior forward Mwani Wilkinson, fifth-year senior transfers guard Juice Hill and forward KJ Williams (both who followed McMahon from Murray State) and true freshman forward Jalen Reed.

Williams, the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year last season, opened his one-season LSU stopover with an understated double-double of 13 points and 14 rebounds.

Hill was content early in the game creating open shots for teammates. He finished with 13 points and 7 assists, highlighted by banking in a 35-foot 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer for 41-34 lead.

Wilkinson, LSU’s lone returning starter who was pigeonholed as a defensive specialist under former Tigers’ head coach Will Wade, enjoyed a newfound offensive freedom under McMahon. Now a viable scoring option, Wilkinson scored 9 points on a trio of 3-pointers including the first basket of the McMahon era.

Yet despite some notable offensive performances, LSU’s defense was just inconsistent enough to let Kansas City stay within striking distance.

The ‘Roos, led by senior guard Shemarri Allen’s 17 points, never allowed the Tigers to get on an extended offensive run. LSU never scored more than six consecutive points.

"We ran 27 different offensive plays and changed defenses I don't know how many times and we were able to execute the majority of them," said Menzies of his 0-2 'Roos. "Veteran teams do that and we are only two games in."

The Tigers led by 16 points at 63-49 with 12:03 left to play. By the 7:35 mark, LSU’s lead was in single digits and shrunk to six points at 66-60 with 6:56 left before the home team pulled its act together.

In the end, LSU got the win and McMahon got a viable blueprint of things his team needs to improve before Saturday’s 5 p.m. home game vs. Arkansas State.

"I would have liked to play better but this was the first time this group is playing together in this setting," McMahon said. "We're going to be a work in progress.

"I think it's important for all of us to recognize, the coaching staff and players in the locker room , that it's November 9th and it's our first game. We've got to get back in the gym and get better and hopefully show continuous improvement as we work our way through the non-conference schedule."

Earlier Wednesday on the first day of the early signing period, McMahon gathered two signatures for the 2023 signing class.

He signed 6-8 power forward Corey Chest of New Orleans and 6-3 guard Mike Williams of Baltimore.

Chest averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks and 3 assists last season for 28-8 Eleanor McMain High as his team advanced to the Class 4A title game for the second straight season.

Chest was a Class 4A first-team all-state honoree. He will play this season at Link Academy in Brandon, Missouri.

Williams will play for Bishop Walsh High School in Cumberland, Maryland where he transferred at mid-semester last season.