The LSU men’s basketball team has been in this situation before.
In a season of several high peaks and only a handful of low valleys, LSU (16-5, 5-3 Southeastern Conference) is again tasked with rebounding from a loss to a team it was projected to beat.
But LSU has a chance to do it at home in three games over six days, starting with Auburn at 6 p.m. tonight in the PMAC.
LSU coach Johnny Jones’ squad rode a three-game winning streak heading into Starkville, Mississippi, in a contest with then-below .500 Mississippi State on Saturday. Despite grabbing a one-point lead with less than 4 minutes to go, LSU couldn’t overcome its 29.4 field goal percentage in the first half and the Bulldogs’ 18-of-25 free throw clip in the second half, walking off the floor with 73-67, résumé-reducing loss.
“Obviously, we’re disappointed,” said junior guard Keith Hornsby. “It’s a game we should have won, but, at the same time, we realized stuff like that does happen when you always play against great competition. You can’t have nights where you feel like you’re only halfway there on the court. I felt like we were kind of like that on Saturday, and it showed in the results.”

Similar to how it has fared most of the season, LSU didn’t match the Bulldogs’ success from line, going only 11-of-21 for the game. Worst yet, Hornsby said the team uncharacteristically lacked energy to get back on defense down the stretch.
On top of struggles from the field — including several missed layups — and the free throw line, Mississippi State attacked a hobbling sophomore forward Jordan Mickey, who turned his ankle near the midway mark of the second half. Mickey battled through the pain on his way to 15 second-half points for a total of 25 to match 20 rebounds.
In the past 19 seasons, Mickey, who is expected to play against Auburn, is only the sixth conference player to achieve 20 and 20 in those two categories. As a team, though, Mickey said LSU has to find ways to keep its foot on the accelerator when the offense does come back around.
“We have to have that point in the game where we just turn it on,” Mickey said. “When we get up a few points, we have to continue to try to establish that lead instead of just trying to go for the knockout punch early. We have to realize that one [3-pointer] isn’t going to beat that team. We have to continue to play the right way.”

LSU, which had two days off after the loss to Mississippi State, should be able to right some of its wrongs offensively against Auburn (10-11, 2-6 SEC). LSU’s three starters in the front court — Mickey, sophomore forward Jarell Martin and sophomore center Darcy Malone — should have a size advantage against Auburn, which doesn’t have a starter or a key contributor taller than 6-foot-8.
To counter Auburn’s smaller lineup, Martin said LSU will switch on screens to stay in front of the ball-handler. Offensively, if Martin can respond from a four-point and four-foul outing in 27 minutes of action on Saturday, LSU should be able to get back to its near-75 point average against a team tied for second in most points given up in conference games.
“With me and Jordan being the leaders on the team, we have to go out and provide as much as we can for the team,” Martin said. “We have to go out playing our best each night. It [can] be a bad outcome at the end if both of us don’t come out having a big night.”
LSU will also see the return of freshman guard Jalyn Patterson, who missed the past two games after sustaining an injury against Vanderbilt on Jan. 24. Patterson was in double-figures off the bench in six of his last 10 games before his injury.
Jones said Patterson will be plugged back into the rotation in his normal capacity and shouldn’t be held back at all. But Jones also said he needs his regular contributors to go full-speed when they are on the floor for his team to have success.
“We have guys [on the bench] chomping at the bit for opportunities to get in games, and we want to make sure we give them that opportunity when guys have exhausted themselves on the floor,” Jones said.
You can reach James Bewers on Twitter @JamesBewers_TDR.