LSU head coach Johnny Jones directs his team against Texas A&M during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game in the Southeastern Conference tournament in Nashville, Tenn., Saturday, March 12, 2016.
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Calipari doesn’t need to make a case for his Wildcats, who have won nine of their past 11 games and take aim at their 29th SEC tournament championship on Sunday, when they face Texas A&M at Bridgestone Arena.
It is a shame that we will not get to see Simmons play in the NCAA tournament in what is likely his only college season but he and his team are clearly not deserving. The worst thing you can say about a team though, is that they are not playing hard and that has been the case with LSU too many times.
When: Sunday, 1 p.m. After Hill hit one of two free throws, House drilled a three-pointer for a 68-62 lead with a minute to play.
The Tigers shot a stellar 57 percent from the field in the final 20 minutes, while also hitting 76.2 percent of their free throws (16-21) during that stretch.
They did it in large part behind the excellent play of senior Danuel House, who scored a game-high 32 points.
Alex Poythress and Tyler Ulis helped get United Kingdom going.
I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again with possibly only a handful of games left: Enjoy every last second of watching Tyler Ulis play in a Wildcat uniform. Two wins away from making the NCAA tournament and salvaging their season, the Tigers couldn’t be bothered to exert a real effort. Their 38 points was the lowest total in an SEC tournament game since the shot clock was instituted in 1986. Tonny Morelos-Trocha led A&M with 13 points, and Jalen Jones had 12.
The Aggies shared the regular-season SEC title and went to Nashville as the No. 1 seed, which was certainly a big step for a program that never won a Big 12 title. But they beat Texas A&M, they beat Kentucky once, they came close to stunning Oklahoma, but now one game matters.
Simmons had 10 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three steals in that one before having 16, 11, seven and three in a 76-71 win over then-No. As the Wildcats seemingly had the game in hand, Kentucky committed a technical foul and the Aggies were able to score at the buzzer to secure the win. But if we have to play tomorrow, we might as well try to win it now. He finished with zero points for the first time all season as he was 0 for 5 from the field.
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Jones said in the news release that he had discussed the matter with his staff and talked to players earlier in the day.
