LSU men’s basketball was in a funk.
The Tigers had lost three straight going into another tough matchup against No. 11 South Carolina. Not only were they losing, but oftentimes they were making big comebacks, only to fall short in the final minutes of the game.
But without its point guard and top scorer, Jalen Cook, LSU beat two consecutive ranked opponents and won four of its next five. It wasn’t the first time the Tigers had to play without Cook as he missed the first 10 games of the season due to ineligibility as a two-time transfer.
This time however, head coach Matt McMahon opted to have veteran guard Trae Hannibal fill the point guard role. Hannibal had already started three games with Cook still playing, but with Cook out, it meant his minutes would increase dramatically.
That didn’t phase the fifth-year senior, though.
In the SEC games Cook has missed, Hannibal is averaging 33.5 minutes per game, but has been a lifeline for the Tigers at point guard. He has 29 assists compared to 13 turnovers in that span, with seven of those turnovers coming against Mississippi State.
“Great credit to him. He’s really grown and developed as a point guard this year,” McMahon said of Hannibal. “His decision making, his ability to get everyone involved in the offense has really been done at an elite level over the last two months.”
Hannibal is an unconventional point guard in today’s game. He averages 5.6 points per game and has only attempted seven 3-pointers all season. A true pass-first point, he doesn’t take very many shots, but that doesn’t mean he can’t cause trouble for opposing defenses.
Standing at 6 feet 2 inches and weighing 221 pounds, he causes defenses the most trouble when he’s attacking downhill and either using his strength and speed to finish at the rim or draw defenders in to kick the ball out and find an open shooter.
“He’s so smart, so savvy, he uses his size well just to get penetration and then making the extra reads,” LSU guard Jordan Wright said.
His physicality makes him a tough matchup for most guards and few players embrace the task of being in the paint when Hannibal has a head of stem.
His strength also makes him a threat on the glass. Hannibal is averaging 7.8 rebounds over the last five games despite often being the shortest player on the court. That has been especially important in SEC play where LSU has struggled at times on the defensive glass.
The fire Hannibal plays with comes from how he grew up in basketball. Often playing with older kids throughout his childhood, asserting himself and playing hard was a requirement to hang with the older and bigger kids.
“It was either you play hard or you get off the court and you can’t play,” Hannibal said. “At the end of the day, it’s a man’s game no matter what your age is.”
Those qualities were what attracted McMahon to Hannibal while he was the head coach at Murray State. In Hannibal’s one season at Murray State, he played a role similar to the role he plays at LSU.
He averaged 9.2 points in 22 minutes per game, along with 5.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists. His contributions helped lead Murray State to a 31-3 record that season and an appearance in the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
His toughness, explosiveness and physicality were a few of the traits that impressed McMahon early on, and those have stuck with him during his time at LSU.
“Trae is a tank,” LSU center Will Baker said. “He works harder than anyone out there.”
His tenacity embodies the spirit that McMahon claims to be the reason behind the Tigers’ recent success. A team’s point guard is often its leader on the court and Hannibal has played that role with his ability to do many different things for the team.
“It’s no surprise to us, but I think he’s definitely slowed the game down and really embraced being a point guard and being the leader of this team,” Wright said.
Hannibal is now only guaranteed three more games in his college career as LSU prepares for its final two games of the regular season, followed by the SEC Tournament.
Though he and the rest of the team maintained that their focus remains on the games ahead, Hannibal reflected on how proud he is to be a part of the rebuild and how far this team and the program has come.
“To go from being predicted 13th in the conference, there’s still a lot of basketball left to be played so at the end of the day you’ve got to be proud of what’s going on, but you can’t be satisfied,” he said.
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