The LSU Tigers Men's Basketball team got a bit of a wake up call after their first half against Alabama State, who hit the locker room with a 32-26 lead over the Tigers. LSU got off to a super slow start, but were able to rally in the second half and end the game on a 36-13 run.

If you go back and look at all of Matt McMahon's successful teams at Murray State, they all centered around elite guard play. In his first two years at LSU, he hasn't necessarily had the talent at the position that he ideally would've liked to have, so he went out in the transfer portal this offseason and got three of the best guards money could bye.

Jordan Sears came over from UT-Martin where he scored 21+ points per game behind a 40+ percent three-point shooting average last season; Cam Carter came from Kansas State where he finished second on the team in scoring (14.6 PPG); and Dji Bailey transferred from Richmond where he was a do-it-all player.

On Sunday night when the Tigers were trailing by 10 points late in the game, those three guys turned it on to help erase the deficit. Of those final 36 points LSU scored in the final 12 minutes of the game, 34 of them came from the hands of those guards.

Bailey started the run with a layup before Sears scored seven consecutive points for LSU to cut the lead to three. Alabama State hit a free throw to grow their lead to four, but they would never have the lead again after the three guards 10 of the next 12 points in the game (Derek Fountain had the other two).

By the end of the second half Bailey, Sears and Carter combined to score 42 points while shooting 10-for-14 from the field, 4-for-6 from three and 18-for-20 from the charity stripe. On top of that, they dished out five assists and grabbed six rebounds in the final 20 minutes. It was a dominant effort from the three transfers, who willed LSU to victory against the Hornets.

Obviously, things weren't too great in the first half - they scored just 12 points between them in the first 20 minutes - but they were able to deliver in the clutch when LSU needed them most. Perhaps the most encouraging part about their performances was their free throw shooting. Sears hit 9 of his 11 attempts while Carter (7-for-7) and Bailey (2-for-2) were perfect down the stretch. There were times last year where LSU struggled to hit free throws late in games, so having three guards who can not only get to the FT line, but make them at a consistent rate is going to be big when they get into tight ball games.

This type of play is going to be needed every single night once LSU reaches SEC play in January. The conference is loaded with talent, especially at the guard position, so they're going to rely on these three guys to carry them to some tough wins in some big games. If they can play the way they did down the stretch on Sunday, they'll have a few chances to upset some teams in conference play.

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