Leslie, McGuire leave huge imprint on Vandebilt athletics
February 5, 2013Plaisance ties Fowles in LSU victory
February 5, 2013
LSU sophomore guard Anthony Hickey is quickly becoming one of Mississippi State’s most hated athletes.
That’s a wonderful thing for the Tigers’ efforts to turn their season around.
The 5-foot, 10-inch guard scored seven points in the final 49 seconds of Saturday afternoon’s game to rally the Tigers past Mississippi State 69-68.
Hickey’s final points were his finest – he drove coast-to-coast and sunk a runner with 1.4 seconds to play to clinch LSU’s comeback from a 17-point first-half deficit.
The shot marks the second-straight year the Kentucky native buries the Bulldogs at the buzzer.
He made a shot as time expired last year to beat Mississippi State – a loss that helped keep the Bulldogs out of the NCAA Tournament.
“Hickey’s amazing,” LSU sophomore forward Johnny O’Bryant told TigerRag Magazine following the win. “He came up with a three and just big, clutch shots that won us the game.”
The win serves as somewhat of a notice to the rest of the SEC that the Tigers are no longer the easy-out that they were at the beginning of the SEC season.
After starting conference play with an 0-4 record, LSU has fought back and won three of their past four games – including a 73-70 triumph over nationally ranked Missouri last Wednesday.
But Saturday’s win was probably the most difficult of the bunch for the Tigers to conquer.
That’s because LSU came off the bus ice cold in the game and fell into an early double-digit hole.
Known for their 3-point shooting, LSU couldn’t buy a basket for most of the first 20 minutes of play, shooting just 2-of-14 from behind the arc and 27.3 percent from the field.
Those stats were the biggest contributor in the Tigers’ heading to halftime with a 40-26 deficit.
“We didn’t come out and execute as well as we needed to in the beginning of the game,” LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones said. “But we talked about it at halftime and said in the second half, we needed to win each timeout.”
In the second half, the Tigers did exactly as Jones said – they gradually chipped away at the lead.
Thanks to full-court pressure, LSU kept Mississippi State’s offense out of rhythm.
That pesky defense, combined with the Bulldogs shooting 8-of-20 from the free-throw line, allowed the Tigers to shrink the lead to single digits early in the half.
From there, LSU continued to slowly peck away, drawing to within two points with five minutes to play.
It was Hickey time with victory within reach.
Down by four points with 49 seconds to play, Hickey calmly sunk a 3-pointer to push the score to 66-65 in favor of Mississippi State.
After a Bulldogs’ turnover, Hickey broke through a double team, crossed over his dribble and hit an off-balance 17-footer to put the Tigers ahead 67-66 with 20 seconds to play.
That shot looked like it would go for naught as the Bulldogs came out of a timeout and scored on a Trivante Bloodman layup to go ahead 68-67 with eight seconds to play.
That set the stage for the guard’s final act.
Out of a timeout, Hickey caught the inbounds pass at the opposing free throw line. After battling through three defenders applying pressure, Hickey pushed the ball toward the basket for the final shot, which softly swished through the net with just more than a second to play.
A full-court heave as the buzzer sounded fell short for Mississippi State.
“Coach told me to get to the rack,” Hickey said. “I usually settle for the jump shot, but I listened to Coach’s advice for a change.”
With the win, LSU is now 3-5 in SEC play and 12-7 overall.
The Tigers will return to the floor tonight in a home tilt with Vanderbilt.
This is the part of the Tigers’ schedule the Tigers will need to attack. They face several bottom-tier teams in the coming weeks.
Colonels get revenge at UCA
The Nicholls State women have done it again.
For the second time in less than a calendar year, they’ve beaten Central Arkansas away from Stopher Gymnasium.
Thanks to 32 points and six assists from junior guard KK Babin, the Colonels pounded Central Arkansas early and held them at bay late in a 68-62 victory.
The win avenges a 72-56 loss the Sugar Bears handed to Nicholls in the Southland Conference opener in early January.
To get that revenge, Nicholls needed a blazing hot first half effort.
Nicholls jumped ahead of the Sugar Bears 18-9 in the first half of the game. They continued to pour it on in the opening half, stretching the lead to 31-14 with seven minutes to play.
Babin was the main cog in that spurt. The Gonzales native was 4-of-4 from the 3-point line, scoring 18 first-half points.
Freshman guard Emani White and fellow newcomer Jasmine Scott added 13 combined points off the bench in the first 20 minutes of play.
Central Arkansas made a spurt in the second half and erased the deficit to just one with 9:45 to play in the game.
From there, they tied the game at 60 with 3:58 to play.
But Babin wasn’t going to allow the Colonels to fall short.
The junior guard scored five-straight points to put the Colonels back on top.
From there, they controlled the rest of the game.
With the win, Nicholls improved to 5-5 in league play.
The Colonels had previously lost two-straight Southland games.
The team begins a three-game homestand Saturday against Southeastern.
LSU guard Anthony Hickey fires a shot during last Wednesday’s game against Missouri. The sophomore had a huge week, allowing LSU to beat both the Tigers and Mississippi State.
