LSU men’s basketball has been on a high recently after back-to-back thrilling wins over ranked teams in South Carolina and Kentucky.
The magic ran out on Saturday as Mississippi State came into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and downed LSU 87-67.
Mississippi State’s staunch defense, ranked No. 13 in the nation by KenPom, made life difficult for LSU. The Bulldogs played with great defensive activity and aggressiveness on the perimeter, while also playing the passing lanes well.
“They played together,” guard Trae Hannibal said. “Once they hit us, you know, that first punch early in the game… you get discombobulated. You just lose your head.”
“The floor shrunk for us tonight,” head coach Matt McMahon said.
Mississippi State has allowed the ninth-lowest opposing 3-point percentage in the nation this season and average 8.2 steals per game.
LSU made its field goals at a 42.9% rate in the first half, but that was deceiving as to how effective the Tiger offense was. LSU was having to work for every shot and ended up settling for difficult attempts.
Hannibal in particular made many improbable shots around the restricted area, finishing with a career-high 22 points in addition to six rebounds.
Still, those shots were poor quality and mostly came in isolation, as Mississippi State negated LSU’s ball movement. The Tigers finished with only four assists in the game on its 24 makes.
LSU ultimately couldn’t maintain that shotmaking. With Mississippi State also forcing 15 turnovers, coming up with 16 offensive rebounds and making 47.6% of its 3-pointers, it was impossible to keep up.
After the Tigers led 29-27 late in the first half, the Bulldogs outscored LSU 60-38 the rest of the way.
Mississippi State is a likely NCAA Tournament team, and Saturday’s win over LSU proved that the Tigers may not be.
So far this season, LSU has made a living making comebacks, but one never materialized against Mississippi State.
“We don’t want to be known as comeback kids,” Jordan Wright said. “We need to focus up and have that energy to start the game.”
Difficulty containing Mississippi State’s stars
LSU’s defense had a lot of trouble keeping Mississippi State’s two leading scorers, Tolu Smith III and Josh Hubbard, in check.
Hubbard, who’s been named SEC freshman of the week four times this season and might have a chance for the freshman of the year award if not for Kentucky’s trio of first-years, is one of the league’s top marksmen.
He’s No. 33 in the nation in terms of 3-pointers taken per game and hits them at a 34.7% clip, contributing to his 14.6 points per game.
Despite his reputation as a 3-point shooter, LSU seemed to lose track of Hubbard time and time again beyond the arc. He made six 3-pointers, but also did a surprising amount of damage driving to the net given his 5-foot-10 frame. He finished with 32 points.
LSU’s perimeter containment was poor all night, but Hubbard exploited it the most.
“He came out very confident,” Hannibal said.
Smith gave LSU fits, as well. An All-SEC selection last year, Smith came off the bench for Mississippi State as he did in the previous game for the Bulldogs, but started the second half.
Though Hunter Dean and Will Baker battled and came up with a few nice defensive stops, for the most part LSU couldn’t handle Smith’s physicality and quickness.
The problem was particularly clear in transition, when Smith was faster to get down the court and often would find himself with a favorable matchup that Mississippi State capitalized on.
Smith had 19 points and nine rebounds for the game.
A game after LSU seemed to have a great defensive gameplan to corral and limit the damage Kentucky’s stars could do, it was surprising to see how helpless the team seemed against Hubbard and Smith.
“They just wore us down physically,” McMahon said.
Tyrell Ward exits with an injury
With 5:24 left in the first half, Ward checked out and walked gingerly to the end of the LSU bench, where his leg was looked at. He hopped on the training bike and stayed there for the rest of the game apart from halftime and the warmup period before the second half, where Ward looked particularly stiff.
Before leaving the game, Ward had seven points and five rebounds in just 13 minutes. He looked to be on his way to another effective offensive performance, as his game continues to grow.
McMahon said after the game that Ward’s injury was a muscle injury in his upper leg and that there’s no update yet. He’ll undergo treatment, and the team will know more soon.
LSU was also missing point guard Jalen Cook, who’s been out with a leg injury for four of the last six games. Both Ward and Cook’s offense were missed.
What’s next?
LSU’s next game will once again be in the PMAC, with the Tigers hosting Georgia at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.
The first matchup between the two teams had its fair share of drama. Jalen Cook made an and-one layup with 15 seconds to put LSU ahead by one, but the lead didn’t last. The Tigers forced a miss on the other end, but were out-hustled on the boards by Russell Tchewa, who drew a foul and hit two free throws.
After winning that game, Georgia was 4-2 in the SEC, but the Bulldogs have lost seven of eight games since. However, they’ve been close in most of those losses, so the rematch with Georgia is not one the Tigers should overlook.
