Adam Miller leads the way in Matt McMahon's first win as LSU basketball coach
BATON ROUGE — In Coach Matt McMahon's first game at the helm, LSU basketball escaped with an ugly, tightly-contested win over Kansas City, 74-63.
LSU (1-0) shot the ball well and consistently generated good looks on offense for most of the night but struggled defensively, despite Kansas City's poor shooting from 3-point range.
Even with the poor shooting from deep, the Roos managed to stay within striking distance for the entire night, cutting LSU's lead down to five with less than 5:30 left to play.
However, Kansas City (0-2) had trouble containing LSU's leading scorer, Adam Miller, who was playing in his first game since 2020 after missing the entire 2021-22 campaign with a torn ACL. He finished the game with 18 points on 14 shot attempts.
Here are three takeaways from LSU's first win of the 2022-23 season.
Jalen Reed and McMahon's first starting lineup
The first starting lineup of the Matt McMahon era included Murray State transfer guard Justice Hill, guard Adam Miller, forward Mwani Wilkinson, Murray State transfer forward KJ Williams and freshman Jalen Reed.
The only surprise inclusion was Reed, the freshman four-star recruit. Hill and Williams were key pieces on McMahon's Murray State teams while Miller and Wilkinson have plenty of starting experience.
The first to come off the bench was Mississippi State transfer Derek Fountain. Following him were Murray State transfer Trae Hannibal and Northwestern State transfer Kendal Coleman.
Notably absent in the first half was Tyrell Ward, the freshman and former top-40 prospect in the nation. He and freshman Corneilous Williams (who is injured) were the only scholarship players to sit out the opening 20 minutes.
NC State transfer Cam Hayes and freshman Shaun Phillips were the final potential rotational pieces to sub into the half with less than five minutes remaining.
Bombs away from deep
The Tigers were not afraid to let it fly from deep in McMahon's first game.
LSU hit 8-of-18 attempts from 3-point range through the opening 30 minutes of the night. This was particularly true in the corners, where the Tigers successfully generated good looks in the first half against Kansas City's zone defense.
Particularly in the first half, the 3-point heavy strategy worked. LSU hit half of its attempts and Wilkinson led all Tigers with nine points, all on threes.
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LSU has work to do on defense
The Tigers may need some work on defense before the start of SEC play.
LSU surrendered 34 points in the first half to Kansas City, a team that only mustered 56 points in its season-opening loss to Lincoln. The Tigers also allowed 16 points in the paint and eight offensive rebounds despite their size advantage over the Roos.
LSU was also consistently late on its rotations and played poor point-of-attack defense, as Kansas City could drive to the basket at will. If the Roos had shot better from three, they might have won the game.
The Tigers may have held Kansas City to 34.4% shooting in the first half, but bad rebounding and subpar defense in the paint led to LSU only leading by seven points at the half.
Koki Riley covers LSU sports for The Daily Advertiser and the USA TODAY Sports South Region. Email him at kriley@theadvertiser.com and follow him on Twitter at @KokiRiley.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: LSU basketball, Matt McMahon wins first game over Kansas City
