WASHINGTON, D.C. — LSU is known to bully opponents in the paint, but the complete opposite happened in the Tigers’ 80-63 loss to Michigan State Saturday. 
“We knew they were a physical team coming into the game, but we didn’t know it was going to be that physical,” said senior forward Kavell Bigby-Williams. “Some of their role-players we didn’t expect to get going had career-high nights. It was tough with them making shots like that and getting offensive rebounds and second-chances.” 
Freshman forward Darius Days said the Spartans were simply more physical than they were and they were unable to overcome it. 
That was clear with the rebounding totals in the first half, as Michigan State out-rebounded LSU 21 to 10. LSU’s rebounding was abysmal and wasn’t much better in the second half. The Tigers were out-rebounded 20-13 in the second half. 
“It wasn’t so much the offensive end, it was on defense,” Bigby-Williams said. “Giving them second-chance points — offensive rebounds and kicking it out. It was the defense that really messed up up.”  
Every time it seemed like LSU could go on a run, Michigan State immediately responded with a run of its own. 
It happened multiple times throughout the game, most notably at the start of the second half when LSU opened with an 8-0 run and and the Spartans responded with back-to-back-to-back threes and a free throw for a 16-2 run. 
“We have to give them credit — they’re a solid, good team,” said sophomore guard Tremont Waters. “They move the ball very well. [The runs] made it even harder for us. We cut it to four [to start the half] and to see it go back to 15 so quick was the worst part about it.”
Days it felt like the Tigers were playing a lot of “one-on-one ball” and couldn’t get into a rhythm together as a team. 
While the Tigers held Michigan State guard Cassius Winston to 15 points on the day, three other Spartans put up double-digit points with forward Aaron Henry leading with 18.
The Tigers, on the other hand, only had two players in double digits.  
 ”They were a lot better than we saw on film — well I don’t want to say that, but some players definitely stepped up when we were hoping they wouldn’t,” said junior guard Skylar Mays. “Just credit to them.
“You could tell they had been here before. They just looked a lot more experienced than us. They just hit us first and when we hit, they hit back.”
One bright spot for the Tigers in a tough loss was Waters, who had a game-high 23 points with two assists and one rebounds. 
Waters had become a leader — especially in the absence of coach Will Wade — to a young LSU team. 
“Last year I was able to lead by example more than leading by through word of mouth, and actually talking to the guys and talking at film and stuff,” Waters said. “This year I’ve had a much bigger role. And I had great teammates behind me that allowed me to grow as a person outside of basketball also.
“And just to have such great guys around me and the coaching staff allowing me to have a voice on the team and to become even more of a leader was the biggest thing, I feel like.”
Waters tried to will the Tigers to the Elite Eight only to fall short. 
And even as the Tigers fell short, Waters calls it learning, not losing. He said that both losing and learning are parts of life and he and the Tigers will learn from this experience. 
“You’ve got to bounce back,” Waters said. “It’s not about what you’re going through, it’s how you handle it. I’ve just got to keep pushing and keep working on my game. Obviously my teammates are going to do the same thing and take it one day at a time.”

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Mitchell Scaglione

LSU senior forward Kavell Bigby-Williams (11) defends the basket during the Tigers' 63-80 loss to Michigan State in the Capital One Arena on Friday, March 29, 2019.