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Zack Nagy | Sports Illustrated
BY ZACK NAGY
LAS VEGAS, NEV – The reigning National Champion LSU Tigers entered Monday night’s contest against No. 20 Colorado with significant hype, and after a difficult night in Las Vegas, the Bayou Bengals suffered a 92-78 season-opening loss to the Buffaloes.
It quickly became a night to forget for Kim Mulkey and the No. 1 ranked Tigers. After coming out of the tunnel flat to enter the second half, Colorado ran LSU out of the gym with Frida Formann shooting the nets off in T-Mobile Arena.
The Instant Takeaways: Non-Existent Chemistry
After bringing in a myriad of newcomers and returning only a handful of players from last year’s National Championship squad, there were clear concerns surrounding the team chemistry of the Tigers.
On Monday, those concerns became a reality. LSU went with the “death lineup” of: Flau’jae Johnson, Hailey Van Lith, Mikaylah Williams, Aneesah Morrow and Angel Reese. With Johnson and Reese being the only returning starters, it was a given there would be challenges from a “gelling” perspective.
There were times where the Tigers looked out of sorts. Van Lith would dump the ball inside to Reese and then the offense would stall. For Van Lith, she’s still adapting to a new position. She’s played off-ball most of her career, and now taking on a point guard role, there were a few hiccups in her first game at the new position. Van Lith ended the night with four turnovers and just 14 points on 4-of-11 shooting with seven assists.
Mulkey knew Monday night would be a challenge. It was a wakeup call the Tigers needed after receiving so much praise during the offseason and a main reason why this program scheduled a matchup against a Colorado group that returned four starters from a season ago.
Now, it’s back to the drawing board. No need to panic.
The LSU Numbers:
Angel Reese: 15 points, 6/15 shooting, 12 rebounds
Hailey Van Lith: 14 points, 4/11 shooting, 7 assists, 4 turnovers
Aneesah Morrow: 6 points, 2/9 shooting, 4 rebounds
Mikaylah Williams: 17 points, 8/16 shooting, 4 rebounds
LSU struggled against the motion offense of Colorado from the jump and the Buffaloes made sure to make the most of their opportunities from beyond the arc, specifically Frida Formann. The sharpshooter ended the night with a career-high 27 points and seven triples for Colorado with the LSU defense finding no answer around the perimeter.
Yes, LSU forced 21 turnovers, but a majority of their defensive stops were self-inflicted by the Buffaloes. Colorado shot the nets off, played with intensity inside and hung in there on the glass to create second-chance buckets.
Sophomore forward Sa’Myah Smith is one of the few players returning from last year’s squad. She stayed in Baton Rouge during the summer to add weight and bulk up in size, but Monday night showed there remains work to be done on the interior. The Tigers were outmatched in the paint on both sides of the floor with Colorado getting anything they wanted.
Colorado a Force to be Reckoned With
The Colorado Numbers:
Frida Formann: 27 points, 9/15 shooting, 7/11 3pt, 5 rebounds, 5 assists
Jaylyn Sherrod: 19 points, 5/12 shooting, 8 rebounds, 6 assists
Aaaronette Vonleh: 24 points, 11/15 shooting, 6 rebounds, 4 assists
The Buffs shot 53.2% from the field and 43.5% from beyond the arc. It was a complete performance from a well-coached group that has the chance to make some noise come March.
The talk of the town will be No. 1 LSU dropping the season opener, but make no mistake about it, Colorado came out and proved they have the opportunity to shine this season.
The Bayou Bengals will return to action on Thursday against Queens University at 7 p.m. when the reigning National Champions are presented with their title rings in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The hype surrounding LSU’s “superteam” has been the talk of college basketball all offseason with the season opener circled by the entire country. For Colorado, it was clear they were prepared to shock the world and utilize their experience to come out on top.
The Buffaloes returned four of their five starters from a season ago with Jaylyn Sherrod and Formann carrying the weight for this group. The experience, chemistry and intensity stole the show for a program who is no slouch. A Sweet 16 squad a year ago, Colorado is a force to be reckoned with.
BY ZACK NAGY
Zack Nagy | Sports Illustrated
https://www.si.com/college/lsu/basketball/instant-takeaways-no-1-lsu-stunned-by-colorado-falls-92-78-in-season-opener
44 Comments
Is this how it looks when athletes get too Rich to care anymore? Take that "L"
LSU needs to be more focused on 🏀
Refs showed which side they were on the moment the ball was hit and Colorado got their hands on it. They were all about LSU, and Colorado still beat LSU.
Kliavkoff tried so hard to tamper and couldn't do it.
#SkoBuffs
You couldn't pay me to watch women play
Yeah well I’d much rather lose my first game of the season then my last like the Cocks. Also Sheryl Swoopes couldn’t carry Seimone Augustus’s jockstrap (or the women’s version of it)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
so disappointment on how many free throws were missed by LSU .
GOOD WIN COLORADO
Now that's how show up to work and play your azz off. I loved every single minute of this. Show'em what you're working with. This was a great ball game man, I cant even front. What a fkn wake up call… today is a new day. LSU was not prepared for what CU was serving. You never underestimate a lower rank team bc they have everything to prove and that they did. Angel Reese saw them dat day👋…. Frida was on fire, she lit that whole 3pt arc up baby, I mean their whole team was taming them Tigers. Coach Mulkey was stunned… I can only imagine what the locker room and the plane ride was like bc you could feel the energy coming off of her, she was pissed, steaming hot…. Overall Great Show, I Loved It💯
Colorado statement maker this ass whippin was good for business ❤
Anyone know where the whole game is?
Lmfaooo😂
I never seen that many BRICKS in the beginning of a basketball game 😂😂😂
Nasty work
Formann absolutely stringing ‘em!
Of course AR was beating up by Kamilla and now by Colorado, her team will never get again the throphy, COLORADO number OO is fire
Angel Reese jump shot is hot dumpster fire garbage. Like wtf is that and why haven’t her coaches fixed that mess.
Women’s basketball sucks. Let’s just be honest. Bunch of studs runnin around missin layups. Lol.
Looks like Reese been doing alot of f-ing in the off season. 😂😂
This is so damn funny.😂 shows us how the refs controlled last yrs championship game!!
Lsu trash
New FAN GO COLORADO #3 YES!
Colorado is not afraid of anyone.
You all should be afraid of Colorado
We coming 😂😂😂
Reese playing lazy asf
Colorado is no joke! They could have beaten Iowa last season If it wasn't for Caitlin Clark turning crazy PG mode in the second half
TENACITY!!!!!! NUFF SAID
Lets go gamecocks
"Angel Reese is known as the double-double queen." Is that because Caitlin Clark is the triple-double queen?? 😂. #gohawks
00 for Buffalo is a beast
LSU isnt hungry, they arent chasing the ball. They need to wake up, whwn your at the top you have to fight harder than the guy below you to make sure you stay there.. LSU's D was poor. From the time Reese gets the ball the whole house is guarding her. Its going to take some time but i hope they find their rythme soon
Ol' Cigarette Face busted out the wrinkly cleavage and made poopy faces while her team got spanked! Now that felt good!
LSU is mentally weak. CU is as good as that shooting can be…..this game it was REAL REAL GOOD….but an off night and they could lose to ANYONE. LSU got lucky last year, path cleared with the refs help…..Classless team lead by the absolute most terrible women's coach of any sport. LSU losing was such perfect karma for them….they will recover…..too many attitudes and ego's that got over inflated.
van lith the reason why lsu lost they never needed to her that why they go struggle ………
I see fame during the offseason went to someone's head that's LSU number 10 "Shrek" aka A.Reese 😂😂😂 pay attention to the game and not the fame
Congrats Iowa … I mean Colorado! 🤣. This game felt like a march madness comeback story!
Definitely the prime effect!
LADAZHIA WILLIAMS is missed LSU has 87 guards on the team.
LSU straight up choked
LSU needs to get In-Shape. They looked tired. Reese was always the last one back.
No surprise here. No team is handing LSU anything.
Not a very good start for the Tigresses.
Boy, 10mins in I see Angie Reese don't play NO DEFENSE!!!!🤫!!!! Zero
I'll also say this. Angel Reese is exhausted out there! She needs to focus on her craft because the lime light can get you caught up slacking and not driven… I get she getting a bit of money now and all but she looks not ready on the court… When they are bounced from the tournament early or don't even make it, imma say, I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!!!!!🤓🤓
Is Angel not going to play any help defense.
I can't see LSU beating SC.
Hello! Can you upload women's games from Tennessee Tech? I have a friend who's playing there this year and I really want to see her play! Thank you!