The LSU Tigers made the trip to West Virginia to participate in the inaugural Greenbrier Tip-Off. In game one, the Tigers suffered a 74-63 loss to a very good Pitt team, but bounced back with a huge triple overtime win over UCF.

The game did not start well for the Tigers, who found themselves trailing by 20 points late in the first half. They were able to cut that deficit to 15 before halftime, but things were looking grim for the Tigers. They were shooting 25% from the field and 23.1% from three while missing over half of their layup attempts.

Matt McMahon talked to the media on Wednesday and told us they just made a lot of mental mistakes. They knew UCF had elite shot blocking abilities, but instead of kicking the ball out for some open threes, they kept trying to drive inside and it led to a lot of tough shots.

"In the first half I thought we struggled to finish plays at the rim and made some poor decisions at the rim," said McMahon. "UCF does a really good job with their shot blocking, and we had some opportunities to kick the ball out and make it easier on ourselves and we didn't do it."

The Tigers went into the break and made some major adjustments. They found ways to drive inside and kick it out for open looks, hitting five of their 13 three point attempts in the second half (38.5%). They were also able to convert their layups at a higher rate and get to the free throw line 11 times, making 10 of them.

By the end of the second half, LSU erased the 15-point deficit and sent the game to overtime. Both teams went back-and-forth and back-and-forth for three overtime periods, but it was the Tigers who came out on top after scoring 39 points in 15 minutes.

"It was a wild contest. I don't remember being in one like that before," said McMahon on Wednesday. "I was just so impressed with our player's resiliency and toughness to keep playing even when trailing by 20."

Since they played 15 extra minutes of basketball, multiple Tigers recorded over 40 minutes of game action. Cam Carter led the way with 52 minutes, followed by Jalen Reed, who played 48 minutes. Behind them, Dji Bailey and Jordan Sears played 44 and 41 minutes respectively. On top of that, all four of those guys played all 15 minutes of overtime with no breaks.

You'd think that would wear a team out, no? Well, you'd be wrong. The Tigers actually played their most efficient basketball in the overtime. As a team, they shot 57.7% from the field and 40% from three while out-rebounding UCF, 18-11. The team seemed to get better as the game wore on, and McMahon credits the Tigers new Strength and Conditioning Coach, Mike Chapman.

"The final piece of that is credit to our new strength and conditioning coach, Mike Chapman. Jalen Reed played 48 minutes, Cam Carter 52 minutes, Dji [Bailey] and Jordan [Sears] over 40 minutes. As crazy as it sounds, we played our best offense in the overtime periods. Really a testament to the work he's done with our guys in the strength and conditioning program."

It was a wild, wild ball game. It will probably end up being the most entertaining LSU game of the entire season if I'm being honest. Both teams went back-and-forth for the final 35 minutes of action, but the Tigers pulled out a much needed win over the Knights.

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