Matt McMahon shares what Arkansas win means for LSU

Matt McMahon spent all offseason rebuilding the LSU basketball program, starting from scratch. Once Will Wade was fired by the Tigers, there was serious work to do for the newly hired head coach. And now, the results are beginning to pay off after an SEC opener win against Arkansas.

When asked what defeating the Razorbacks — one of the highest-ranked teams in the country coming into the season — meant to LSU, he stuck to the old cliches. He wants to make sure his team is just focusing on one game at a time, steadily improving.

“We kind of always go one game at a time,” McMahon said. “As boring and cliche as it is, the goal is to go 1-0. For us, we’re such a work in progress. We’re just trying to get better every day in practice. Every game. Obviously, the goal is to win while doing it. I hope it’s something we can continue to build on.”

LSU now sits with an 11-1 record but had yet to really get a marquee victory. Prior to Thursday, Wake Forest was most likely the best win on the Tigers’ resume but now that title belongs to Arkansas. Even if it came at home, it’s a possible kick starter for McMahon moving forward.

And McMahon is correct — one game at a time for LSU. Next up is a road game against Kentucky.

Matt McMahon credits defense, lack of turnovers for win

Arkansas came in scoring just under 80 points per game, just outside the top 50 in the country. LSU was able to hold them to 57, an incredible defensive effort. McMahon really credited the Tigers’ ability to defend down in the paint — an improvement from the nonconference portion of the schedule.

“There are a lot of things that went into winning tonight,” McMahon said. “I thought our defensive effort, our ability to defend the paint, was much improved.”

However, McMahon was most pleased with the lack of turnovers. A step even further, where LSU did not allow Arkansas to capitalize on them. He thinks Eric Musselman is one of the best in the country there and believes that was the key.

“Arkansas is probably the best team in America at forcing turnovers and converting those turnovers into points in transition. We had a couple of brutal turnovers there late. But for the game, only 10 turnovers and they only scored four points off of those turnovers. I believe they were averaging over 25.”