The LSU men’s basketball team scored only its second road win of the season against Mississippi State, 80-72, on Wednesday night. The Tigers also regained sole possession of second place in the Southeastern Conference Western Division.
Sophomore forward Brandon Bass pulled down his 16th career double-double and led the Tigers with a game-high 21 points and 17 rebounds, followed by freshman forward Glen Davis with 19 points and nine boards.
Guards Darrel Mitchell and Tack Minor each scored 11 points.
LSU coach John Brady said the Tigers’ strong low-post play allowed the team to win despite struggling from beyond the arc, making only 3-of-15 3-pointers.
The Tigers scored 50 points in the paint and made 50.8 percent of its shots in the game.
“The team has proved me wrong,” Brady said. “You can’t keep throwing it inside every time on the road and win a significant game, but we were able to do that tonight.”
The Tigers also held MSU star forward Lawrence Roberts to 13 points and 14 rebounds. He made only 6-of-14 shots from the floor and hit only 1-of-6 free throws as he fouled out with 3:01 remaining.
The Bulldogs made 40 percent of their field goals but were 12-of-24 from the charity stripe in their first home conference loss this season.
“We showed some resiliency on the road in front of a tough crowd,” Brady said. “We had Lawrence Roberts a little frustrated. Any time you can do that to him, you’ve done a good job.”
LSU (14-8, 7-4 SEC) held off a mad comeback charge as the Bulldogs went on an 18-7 run to close within 70-65 of the lead with 3:17 remaining.
The Tigers stretched the lead to nine twice in the last three minutes and MSU (18-7, 6-5 SEC) never got the lead back under six.
The Bulldogs scored four straight to open the second half and tied the game at 41-41 as guard Shane Power started the scoring with a 3-pointer. Power led the Bulldogs with 20 points and buried 5-of-6 3-pointers.
MSU went almost nine minutes until its next field goal when guard Winsome Frazier scored on a fastbreak layup with 9:51 remaining.
The Tigers went on a 19-3 run to take control of the game as Bass ignited the drive with a jump shot. Davis scored nine points during the spurt.
Minor hit LSU’s first 3-pointer with 11:35 remaining and LSU led 60-44.
MSU opened the game with a 7-4 lead on guard Ontario Harper’s jump shot at the 18:14 mark of the first half. The Bulldogs made only one field goal in the next six minutes.
The Tigers went on a 14-2 run and led 18-9 with 13:59 left in the first half as LSU’s frontcourt took over.
Bass started the spurt with six points, including a dunk sandwiched between four made free throws. Hudson closed the run with four points on the offensive end including a fastbreak layup.
Frazier gave the Bulldogs an emotional lift off the bench midway through the half, making his first appearance since he injured his ankle at Ole Miss on Jan. 8. He scored 11 points in the contest.
Frazier took part in a 3-point barrage as the Bulldogs hit three consecutive shots from beyond the arc to tie the game 18-18 with 10:55 remaining in the first half.
MSU made 8-of-19 3-point shots in the game.
The Tigers regained the lead, 20-18, on Xavier Whipple’s layup, but the teams exchanged the lead on the next four possession before MSU gained a 27-23 lead at the 8:28 mark of the half on back-to-back 3-pointers from Power.
Hudson’s fastbreak layup capped a 7-0 run, and LSU led 32-27 with 6:31 left in the first half.
MSU battled back and tied the game twice before taking a 37-36 lead on Dietric Slater’s free throw at the 4:15 mark in the half.
LSU closed the half with five straight points and led 41-37 at the break.