Challenging year for Hornsby

LSU coach Johnny Jones refers to Keith Hornsby as the team’s ‘glue guy.’

A season ago, Hornsby was the perfect complement to Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey. As the Tigers’ third offensive option, Hornsby averaged 13 points per game.

Hornsby was expected to be one of LSU’s top three offensive players this season – along with Ben Simmons and Tim Quarterman. Then, Hornsby faced some adversity as a sports hernia procedure caused him to miss the first seven games of the season.

Hornsby returned for the Houston game and scored a career-high 32 points in 37 minutes. Hornsby went back into the starting lineup one game later against Gardner-Webb. With the added depth on the perimeter for the Tigers, Hornsby’s playing time has decreased.

Hornsby is averaging 30.5 minutes per game this season – exactly five minutes fewer than a year ago. He is averaging 12.7 points per game – just about one point less than last season.

Entering Saturday’s game against Mississippi State at the PMAC (5 p.m. Central/ESPN2), Hornsby’s scoring against SEC opponents is slightly down. Hornsby has scored more than ten points in only two of nine league games – 23 against Vanderbilt and 12 against Alabama.

“People are guarding me differently this year,” Hornsby said. “Teams are not doubling off of me. Rarely do I get a wide-open three. I am getting different types of shots this year. I am getting to the basket more now. Still, I think my offensive efficiency is better this year.”

Last season, Hornsby made 42 percent of his field goal attempts, including 39 percent of his 3-point shots. So far this season, Hornsby is shooting almost 50 percent from the field, including 40 percent from behind the 3-point line.

Hornsby’s shooting numbers in the nine SEC contests are even higher. Hornsby has made 53 percent of his field goal attempts, including a team-best 44 percent on 3-pointers. Hornsby is contributing 11 points per game against SEC teams while playing an average of 29 minutes.

“When I first came back from the injury, I was playing about 37 minutes,” Hornsby said. “With Jalyn (Patterson) back healthy, I am getting less minutes. I can’t expect to get as many shots as I did last year with the added depth. Obviously, being the competitor I am, I would like to play more.”

Hornsby acknowledged that getting fewer minutes is helping him stay fresh as he continues to recover from surgery. Jones is totally satisfied from what he is receiving from his senior wing.

“We are fortunate that we are able rest Keith more this year,” Jones said. “This has enabled him to fully recover after the injury. There are other guys we can put in this year and there is no slippage.

“Keith’s productivity has been good. He has been efficient. He is shooting the ball well – almost 50 percent, which is huge for a perimeter guy. Then, his defense has been good, like usual.”

Patterson has been taking more of Hornsby’s minutes in recent games. Patterson, who has started the past seven games on the wing, has been on the floor for at least 30 minutes five times in that stretch. Patterson missed four straight games in December because of a leg injury.

A calming influence on both ends of the court, Patterson is not the same offensive threat as Hornsby. Since going into the starting lineup, Patterson has scored more than six points only twice – nine against Arkansas and 11 against Georgia.

“The injury affected me earlier this year,” Patterson said. “But, now it doesn’t bother me at all. I am past that. My job is to make open shots and do what I can to help the team. I have to stay confident and focused.”

As a team, LSU must remain focused when Mississippi State (9-12, 2-7) visits the PMAC on Saturday. Missouri is the only team with fewer conference victories than the Bulldogs. However, five of Mississippi State’s SEC losses have been by six points or less – including games at Kentucky and Florida.

“I don’t know if we turned a corner with our win at Auburn,” Hornsby said. “I don’t view our loss to Oklahoma as bad. We didn’t play a bad game against Oklahoma. It was like our game with Kentucky last year. After the Kentucky loss, we went to Tennessee and won by a huge margin.

“We did the same at Auburn this year. But, we expected to win at Auburn. Now, we have to keep having that mindset. We must take care of business every night. We didn’t do that last year. That’s something we are stressing this year. We want to be consistent with our overall attitude.”

Mississippi State’s top performer is post player Gavin Ware, who is accounting for 16.3 points and 7.3 rebounds a game. But, the Bulldogs have three dangerous perimeter players – point guard I.J. Ready (10.1 points, 4.3 assists) and wings Malik Newman (13.2 points) and Craig Sword (12.5 points).

“Mississippi State really has good guards with Ready, Sword and Newman,” Hornsby said. “They are a little like Georgia with (J.J.) Frazier, (Charles) Mann and (Kenny) Gaines. If you don’t clamp down on them, they can really do damage.”