Despite having the lead from the opening tip until 1:49 remaining in the game, the No. 10 LSU Tigers were not able to secure a victory against No. 17 Wichita State. The Shockers (4-0) did not lead until there were less than two minutes remaining in the contest. But when the clock struck 0:00, they had the advantage and pulled off a 57-53 upset Saturday afternoon against the Tigers (2-1) in the PMAC. The win was the Shockers’ second in a row against a Final Four team from this past season and snapped LSU’s 11-game home winning streak. Wichita State defeated George Mason University on the road Nov. 18, 76-64. Junior forward Glen Davis led the Tigers with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Senior forward Darnell Lazare was the only other Tiger to score in double figures, notching 11 points to go along with five rebounds. The Shockers displayed a balanced offensive attack with five players scoring in double figures, led by senior forward Ryan Martin with 12 points. Both teams were successful in shutting down their opponents’ leading scorers. LSU sophomore forward Tasmin Mitchell entered the contest second on the team at 17.5 points per game, but the Shockers’ defense held the Denham Springs native to 6 points on 3-for-11 shooting. LSU’s defense held Wichita State’s top-two scorers, senior forward Kyle Wilson and junior guard Sean Ogirri, to a combined 5-for-17 shooting and 13 points. LSU coach John Brady said the Tigers’ defense was one of the bright spots in the loss. “One thing we did well is I thought we defended them well, particularly in the first half and then stretches in the second half,” Brady said. “When you have to put every possession on your defense to win the game, it makes it a little more difficult [to win]. We did not do anything consistently well on offense.” Brady said impatience caused LSU’s offensive problems. “We seemed to rush a little bit offensively,” Brady said. “It seems whoever has the ball wants to make the play to score the basket or make the next pass that leads to the basket, which isn’t the right approach.” The Tigers started the game just like they did in their first two wins of the season against Nicholls State University and the University of Louisiana-Monroe. LSU got off to a quick start, jumping out to a 14-4 lead. A layup by sophomore forward Magnum Rolle with 9:10 left in the first half gave LSU the largest lead they would have in the game, 18-7. The Shockers fought back to keep the score close, but Mitchell’s first field goal of the game with 3:26 left in the half pushed the Tigers’ lead to 24-19. A Tack Minor 3-pointer with 8 seconds left gave LSU a 29-23 halftime advantage. Wichita Sate coach Mark Turgeon said his team responded well to his motivation following intermission. “I was just begging them to play hard,” Turgeon said in a news release. “I told them at halftime, ‘I just want to be able to look ourselves in the mirror after the game and say that we tried as hard as we could.’ We did that in the second half.” The second half unfolded much like the first until a tip-in layup by Martin tied the score at 48 with 4:09 left in the game. Free-throw shooting was the difference in the final possessions of the game. The Shockers went 6-for-7 from the charity stripe in the final three minutes of the game while the Tigers only went 1-for-4, including two misses by Mitchell that could have extended LSU’s lead to 4 points with 2:31 left in the game. Junior guard Dameon Mason said knowing the opposing team outplayed the Tigers in the PMAC is difficult to deal with. “Seeing somebody out-tough us [and] outplay us in our building in front of our fans, that’s a tough thing to take,” Mason said. Sophomore guard Garrett Temple said LSU’s perimeter players were somewhat hesitant to shoot in the later stages of the game. “We were trying to get the ball inside because on the first play of the second half we got the ball inside and got a 3-point play,” Temple said. “That was our bread and butter, but we didn’t get any real good open looks out of the double team. And they double-teamed Glen a lot in the second half. We had a little trouble with that.”
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