NEW ORLEANS — Big Blue Nation left the LSU men’s basketball team feeling blue Friday afternoon.
The Tigers (18-14) gave one of their most valiant efforts, but couldn’t overcome a relentless No. 1 Kentucky (31-1) squad, falling 60-51 in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in the New Orleans Arena.
In front of a raucous pro-Wildcats crowd, LSU saved one of its best performances for what was potentially its last game.
The Tigers jumped out to a 12-7 lead, trailed by just one at halftime and charged out of the locker room to a 35-30 advantage with 16 minutes remaining.
But foul trouble, the sea of blue in the crowd and Kentucky’s first-round talent sent LSU back to reality.
The Wildcats exploded to a 9-0 run on a trio of  lay-ins and held LSU without a basket for five-plus minutes to snatch the momentum for good.
“That’s not a good team we lost to, that’s a great one,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “With that much talent, you know a run is coming. I thought we withstood it pretty well, but just couldn’t match them shooting the ball.”
Kentucky freshman forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist exploited several mismatches to finish with 19 points, while sophomore Terrance Jones bludgeoned through Tiger interior defenders for 15 points.
Freshman sensation Anthony Davis altered LSU’s shots all afternoon, forcing a 29.4-percent Tiger shooting effort, accumulating six blocks and tallying 12 points.
For LSU, freshman point guard Anthony Hickey led the quest early for the upset bid.
The Kentucky native recorded four first-half steals to help limit the Wildcats to just 25 points before the half.
“Defense was how we had to do it,” Hickey said. “The first time we played them didn’t matter. We had to get after them.”
Kentucky routed LSU, 74-50, in the PMAC on the Jan. 28, but the Tigers forced 18 Wildcat turnovers and limited UK to just one 3-pointer this time around.
With the game nodded up at the half, the Wildcats seemed on the verge of a game-clinching run at a moment’s notice.
But it was LSU that burst out of the halftime locker room, using four Andre Stringer points and a Ralston Turner 3-ball to take a stunning 35-30 lead.
That was about as much offense as the Tigers would muster the rest of the way.
LSU managed just 16 points during the final 16 minutes and scored on just 24 of its 70 possessions in the game.
Senior forward Storm Warren — playing in possibly his final career game — kept LSU within reasonable striking distance in the second half, scoring 10 late points to finish with 14 points.
The Tigers missed sophomore guard Ralston Turner and Johnny O’Bryant II down the stretch, as both fouled out before the final official timeout.
LSU will now await a potential postseason bid, with the National Invitational Tournament or the College Basketball Invitational the Tigers’ likely destination.
“I feel like, with our performance all year long, this team has proved worthy of an NIT bid,” Johnson said. “They competed so hard out there today. I know this much: If we’re fortunate to get a bid in the postseason, it’s going to take a good effort by a fine team to beat us, the way we’ve played the last two days.”
LSU defeated Arkansas, 70-54, on Thursday in the tournament’s opening round.
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Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]