It was a classic case of too little, too late.
The LSU men’s basketball team staged a torrid late-game surge behind three Anthony Hickey 3-pointers, but No. 18 Mississippi State held on for a 76-71 victory Wednesday night in Starkville.
The Tigers were all but out of the game with 1:10 remaining, trailing the Bulldogs, 67-58.
But the freshman point guard caught the hot hand, and — along with a Ralston Turner trey — vaulted LSU back to within one with 18 seconds to play.
Following Hickey’s final 3-pointer, a bank shot from the top of the key, MSU freshman guard Jalen Steele was fouled and made two free throws, setting up LSU with a chance to tie on a final possession.
But Bulldogs senior guard Dee Bost jumped a high screen, forcing a Hickey turnover that led to two clinching free throws by junior forward Arnett Moultrie with 2.6 seconds left.
“We got it to Anthony quick a lot late, and he came through,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson in a postgame radio interview. “They made an adjustment on that last possession, and Dee dodged [LSU junior forward Justin] Hamilton’s screen up top. It was a great defensive play.”
Hickey finished with 15 points. Hamilton added nine and sophomore guard Andre Stringer — who didn’t start for the first time this season in a game he was available — found his shooting touch and led LSU with 17 points.
The Tigers controlled much of the early action and held a seven-point advantage with four minutes to play in the first half, but Steele went on an 8-0 run by himself in just 75 seconds to swing the game’s momentum and give MSU a 32-31 halftime lead.
The Bulldogs parlayed that momentum out of the halftime break, opening an 11-point lead at the 13-minute mark behind eight Moultrie points and five Bost assists.
Moultrie was a monster down low all night, mixing an array of dunks, put-backs and turn-around jumpers to finish with 28 points and 12 rebounds.
Bost added just nine points on ineffective shooting, but dished out a game-high 10 assists.
Even with LSU 6-foot-9 freshman Johnny O’Bryant III making his return following a six-game absence with a fractured hand, Moultrie and fellow forward Rodney Hood — who had 13 rebounds — burned LSU on the boards all night.
Mississippi State outclassed the Tigers by 17 rebounds, 40-23.
“We couldn’t keep them off the glass all night,” Johnson said. “It’s pretty hard to win on the road like that.”
Stringer kept LSU in the game with back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the second half, and the Tigers were down by only four points with eight minutes remaining.
But Moultrie again took over, scoring seven straight, setting up the Bulldogs’ late lead and LSU’s near-comeback.
The Tigers corrected the perimeter shooting woes and turnover issues that have plagued them recently, making 11-of-21 3-pointers and only losing the ball twice in the second half.
“The team was really dialed in tonight,” Johnson said. “They competed hard and didn’t let the game get away without a fight.”
Still, the result was the same, as LSU lost for the fifth time in its last six Southeastern Conference games. It was the Tigers’ fourth-straight road loss in the league play.
 
 
 
 
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Contact Chris Abshire at [email protected]