Matt McMahon details Jordan Wright's injury

LSU coach Matt McMahon provided an update after Tigers wing Jordan Wright appeared to suffer an injury against Alabama. Wright collided with Crimson Tide forward Grant Nelson and looked a bit banged up, though he continued to play.

The senior finished with nine points on 1-of-5 shooting, four rebounds and a steal as LSU lost 109-92. Speaking postgame, McMahon offered insight into what happened on the play, as it seems Wright will ultimately be fine.

“He’s been recovering from an illness last week, but I think what happened is he got clipped on a screen coming out there in the first half,” the coach said. “It looked like a charley horse situation. Had the horrific fall. Was really fortunate there. I think he landed on Nelson. I think just got hit there in the quad by a knee on a screen.”

Wright transferred to LSU from Vanderbilt this offseason and has been a key part of the Tigers rotation, starting 21 of 22 games. He ranks second on the team with 15.2 points per game along with 5.1 rebounds and a team-best 2.8 assists.

Wright’s struggled were ultimately a big part of the loss as he missed all three of his 3-point attempts. The Tigers will hope he is able to shake this performance off and get healthy as they aim to bounce back.

LSU dropped to 12-11 (4-6 SEC) on the year with Saturday’s loss and now sit at 10th place in the conference standings. The Tigers next face Florida at 7 p.m. CT on Tuesday in Gainesville.

Matt McMahon explains starting lineup change between Trae Hannibal, Jalen Cook

Matt McMahon made a switch to LSU’s lineup by moving Jalen Cook to the bench and making Trae Hannibal a starter. It was a choice that he felt was best and was one that had positive results this weekend.

McMahon explained the decision during his postgame press conference after the 95-75 win for the Tigers over Arkansas last Saturday. As far as a reasoning, he said it was nothing more than something they thought they needed to try.

“Just a coach’s decision,” said McMahon. “I thought we needed to change. Really, that’s all there is to it.”

Cook continued to come off the bench Saturday against the Crimson Tide and scoring 20 points on 6-of-17 shooting. He currently leads the Tigers with an average of 15.5 points per game.