Matt McMahon provides injury updates on Cam Hayes, Mwani Wilkinson
Matt McMahon had been off to a hot start at LSU, but three straight losses has the Tigers reeling.
Additionally, a couple injuries have thrown a wrench into McMahon’s plans, as forward Mwani Wilkinson and guard Cam Hayes are dealing with ailments. Speaking with the media, the LSU leader provided an update on both players.
“Mwani, was excited for him on Saturday, was going to play a big role in that game. Kind of tweaked his shoulder in practice leading into the game. I think he’s seeing the doc right now. Hopefully have an update on him soon,” stated McMahon. “Then Cam, as you saw the injury in the first half against A&M. The good news is, no structural damage. Everything’s good there. Just a matter of getting his mobility back to full movement.
“I would assign him a day-to-day grade. Hope we get him back as soon as possible.”
Moreover, Wilkinson is averaging 2.6 points and 1.6 rebounds on the season thus far, but McMahon made it a point to say his role is growing. As for Hayes, his 8.0 points, 2.0 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game will be missed dearly if he has to sit for an extended period of time.
Alas, Matt McMahon didn’t seem to worried about Cam Hayes’ status, but he’ll be keeping a keen eye on Mwani Wilkinson.
Matt McMahon evaluates Adam Miller after ‘disappointing’ shooting week
Meanwhile, LSU guard Adam Miller finally broke out of a three-point shooting slump over the Tiger’s latest two-game stretch. After a rough six-game slide, Miller shot 50.5% from deep in a pair of losses to Kentucky and Texas A&M.
Even with it coming in a two-game losing streak, Matt McMahon shared the importance of Miller finding his stroke again during his pre-Florida press conference on Monday. He said both Miller and his teammates did a much better job of getting him good looks, which will hopefully help them translate these next few games into wins now that he has the green light again with him shooting the ball much better.
“Disappointing results with the two games on the road last week. But one of the positive takeaways after a rough stretch of shooting for Adam was he goes 10-21 from three in the two games,” said McMahon. “I felt we did a better job of creating some open looks for him. I thought his movement without the basketball and his screening was much improved. And that led to some of the easier looks. I’m all for him shooting as many high-quality threes as we can create for him.”
Miller’s averages for his sophomore season sit at 13.3 points per game on 37.6% shooting from the field and 33.6% from deep. However, before the games in Lexington and College Station, he had made six of his last 39 attempts from three. That’s just a brutal 15.4%. It was even worse considering he’s LSU’s highest volume shooter with an average of 7.7 three-point attempts per game.
From here, McMahon just needs Miller’s recent hot stretch to help their team win some more games. With the Tigers headed back home, their next chance to do so will come tonight when they host the Gators.
On3’s Sam Gillenwater contributed to this article.