After losing three straight games, the Auburn Tigers got back on track like most teams do: by beating LSU.
Bruce Pearl’s squad rolled into Baton Rouge and cruised to a 98-75 victory.
Auburn outscored LSU 53-33 in the second half, with the Tigers shooting 52% on the night and knocking down 14 three-pointers.
It was the 14th straight loss for LSU, as Johnny Jones’ future with the program looks very bleak at this point.
Five Auburn players scored in double-figures on the night, and Ronnie Johnson led the way with 17.
Blake’s Analysis:
Coming into the game, you felt like this was LSU’s last chance at a win this season.
Yeah, that didn’t go well.
After a slow start, Auburn turned up the heat in the second half and LSU had no answer. Another spectacular night from Antonio Blakeney (29 points) will once again get overshadowed by just how poor LSU was on the defensive end of the floor.
The Tigers came into the game allowing 89 points per game in their last eight, and obviously, that number is now higher thanks to allowing Auburn to nearly hit the century mark.
Pearl has taken some heat himself over the past month or due to Auburn’s own defensive struggles, but there is no comparison between these two programs right now.
Jones is a great person and as nice as they come. However, this experiment in Baton Rouge has been a failure. It’s time for LSU to move on and grab a coach that can get this program back where it needs to be.
With the Missouri job also likely coming open, LSU has no choice but to reboot its basketball program in order to stay on pace with the improving league.
And after this particular game, it’s likely that the school will have no choice after the SEC tournament.