LSU Soars Into The Final Four

The LSU Tigers are headed to the Final Four after a thrilling 70-60 victory over the Texas Longhorns.

The play of freshman forward Tyrus Thomas and Glen “Big Baby” Davis Saturday afternoon was nothing short of spectacular as the Tigers dynamic duo combined for 47 points, 23 rebounds and three swats.

Thomas was brilliant today as he was able to take over the game on the offensive and defensive end of the floor. On the defensive end Thomas erased passing lanes and blocked shots and on the offensive end Thomas was able to score at will in the paint while drawing Longhorn defenders out of the paint because of his ability to hit his jump shots.

One aspect of the game that stuck out was the Longhorns inability to prevent LSU from running a baseline screen play that resulted in Thomas getting an alleyoop pass in the paint. The Tigers ran this play three times in the first half and each time LSU ran this play Thomas was able to finish off the play with an eye-popping dunk.

Thomas has been knocked by scouts for only being able to score off his aerial attack but tonight he was able to go 10-14 from the field with a dazzling array of dunks, jump shots and put backs that showed his ability to shoot the rock as well as dunk. The high flying forward finished the game with 21 points, three swats and 13 boards.

Following the game Thomas told Seth Davis that, “I let the doubters believe what they want. Like my big man said, we’re still hungry. We ain’t satisfied with what we did yet. We’ve got a lot more to prove.”

Big Baby had yet another big game for the Tigers as he chipped in 21 points and 10 boards. Davis went 11-19 from the field while preventing the Longhorns from double teaming Thomas.

Following the game an ecstatic Davis told Seth Davis that, “we gotta’ play as a team. Big guys do play a key role in winning a game. I just want to thank God right know, we couldn’t do it with anybody else. We’ve got tape worms in our bellies right now, we still want to eat!”

With Davis and Thomas both playing out of their minds it prevents teams from doubling either player down in the post. This causes problems for opposing teams because they need to worry about a large, agile forward in Davis killing you in the paint while worrying about an athletic Thomas flying through the air to hammer down alleyoop passes. This has proven to be a lethal combination that I don’t see any team being able to stop.

Date
Sat 03/25/06, 4:51 pm EST

Source

 * [HoopsAddict.com HoopsAddict.com]