NASHVILLE, Tenn. — For just the second time since the start of the new year, basketball was fun Wednesday night for Matt McMahon.
Ditto for KJ Williams, Trae Hannibal and Shawn Phillips — especially Phillips — and the rest of the LSU basketball team.
McMahon and his Tigers went into the Southeastern Conference tournament as the No. 14 seed with one win in their last 18 games, but not looking for a quick exit.
LSU had other ideas, of course, and defeated Georgia 72-67 in the nightcap of a double-header in Bridgestone Arena that opened the SEC tournament.
The win sends LSU (14-18) into a second-round game against Vanderbilt (18-13) around 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
Despite letting a 12-point halftime lead slip away late, the Tigers persevered Wednesday night in front of 14,326 fans to give McMahon, a Tennessee native, his first win in a tournament he’s watched since he was a youngster.
“It was a fun game, a great atmosphere,” he said with a smile. “I was not expecting that many people on opening night. … I hope I’m never back for opening night, but that was a lot of fun.”
It could have easily turned into another disappointing night in a season filled with them with starting forward Derek Fountain missing the game, his right arm in a sling, after suffering a shoulder injury in Monday’s practice.
That’s where the 7-foot, 245-pound Phillips came in.
While Fountain is the team’s third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, Phillips stepped up and gave McMahon another big body to work down low.
“Derek messed up his shoulder, so the coaches told me to be ready to play some nice minutes off the bench,” Phillips said, noting he felt good in warmups. “Basically, I always feel the same because I love to compete. So I play hard, regardless if I play well or not.”
Active and aggressive on both ends of the floor, Phillips, who was averaging just 0.7 points, 1.6 rebounds and 5.9 minutes in 18 games, gave his team much more than 25 strong minutes.
Leave a Reply