As of Sunday evening, we now know that coach Matt McMahon and LSU basketball has not only made the 2024 NIT, but that they’ll be facing North Texas for the second time this season during the first round. On Monday, the Tiger head coach took some time to discuss the team’s mentality heading into the tournament.
LSU basketball is focused and ready to take on North Texas for the second time of the season
Coach Matt McMahon and LSU basketball is about to take on a familiar foe this evening in the first round of the 2024 NIT. After beating North Texas earlier this year by a score of 66-62 on November 17, 2023, both teams will now have an opportunity for something of a rematch.
Notably, while some schools took their exclusion from the NCAA Tournament as an insult and decided to not participate in the consolation tournament, coach McMahon and the Tigers appear to have a slightly different stance on the upcoming matchups.
“It’s a great opportunity for us. I can’t speak to the three or four programs that chose not to play – but for us – from where we were 23 months ago, to be in a position where we have nine SEC wins, finish in the top half of the standings, we have some good young talent in our program that want to continue to develop and get better,” the Tiger head coach said when asked about opting into the 2024 NIT. “These opportunities are priceless. Get out here and compete against other top-100 programs in the country.”
Interestingly enough, an NIT berth didn’t even look like a possibility early on in the year, the purple and gold found themselves with a record of 12-12 in mid-February following three straight losses against in-conference Tennessee, Alabama and Florida.
With that in mind, along with the 2023 record of 14-19, a trip to the 2024 NIT all of a sudden feels like a fantastic jump in the right direction. Now, it’s just about making the most of it.
“It’s a chance to get better and keep building your program,” McMahon continued. “I wouldn’t look at it any other way. I think of the 32 teams in the field, there are four teams in it that have more Quad 1 wins than we do. We feel good about where we’re at and want to find ways to win, but our whole focus will be ‘how do we beat North Texas tomorrow night?’ And I think our guys have done a good job with that these past 24 hours.”
LSU basketball enters the NIT as a No. 4 seed and will take on North Texas (18-14) tonight in the first round. The game will take place in Baton Rouge as the Tigers look to make a potential run in the 32-team bracket.
Coach Matt McMahon expects to make the NCAA Tournament going forward
As great as it is to see the purple and gold competing in a tournament after last season’s struggles, it’s still important to remember what LSU basketball is all about.
Prior to the 2022-23 campaign, the Tigers had been to three of the last four tournaments and were showing solid improvement under former head coach Will Wade. Furthermore, if we take it way back, there was a time from 1978 until 1993 under at the time head coach Dale Brown when it was almost shocking if the purple and gold weren’t included in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
While it may seem like those days are miles away, coach Matt McMahon is well aware of the storied history and understands that these past two seasons do not meet the standard for the Fighting Tigers.
“You don’t come to LSU to celebrate going to NITs. That’s just the way it is, but for where we’re at as a program, it’s a big step forward for us. It’s an opportunity to keep building and put ourselves in a position to get back to the NCAA Tournament, which is obviously the ultimate goal for us.”
As things stand today, McMahon and his squad wouldn’t exactly be a popular pick to make the 2025 NCAA Tournament. With that said, if the Tigers manage another jump in improvement over the next year or so, don’t be surprised to see the purple and gold make a run in what could be the first March Madness appearance in this new era of LSU basketball.
For now, all focus is currently on the 2024 NIT, as this could potentially be a big-time momentum builder heading into next season.
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