LSU head coach Matt McMahon lights a fire under his men in the pregame locker room.
It’s the final game of the regular season; it just feels like the right time.
“You got to come out ready to go, man,” McMahon said in the locker room with a booming clap. “We got to come out swinging. You got to come out with great energy, high-level communication. It’s senior day. Our energy, the passion we play with, should reflect it.”
However, it didn’t start that way right out of the gate. No. 22 Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor began the game scorching hot from pregame warmups. He shot 5-for-8 (62.5%) and 3-for-4 (75%) from three to give the Aggies an early lead.
“I think his ability to carry the burden of being our best leader and our best performer and making things happen when nothing else seems to work is a gift, and he’s handled that gift in as humble away as any elite-level player I’ve ever seen,” Texas A&M head coach Buzz Williams said.
The Tigers trailed the Aggies throughout most of the first half before pulling off a 17-0 run.
Sears put the Tigers on his back during the first period of LSU’s senior day showdown with Texas A&M. He even went on an 8-0 run all by himself while knocking down his two threes on the day to give the Tigers their first lead.
“Just had to not think about it too much, but just coming out aggressive, trusting in my work, putting my faith in God, my teammates rallying around me, the coaches telling me, ‘Be aggressive. Be you,’ and it showed in the game.”
Sears shot 4-for-7 (57.1%) from the field, 2-for-4 (50%) from 3-point range and 6-for-7 (85.7%) from the free throw line for 16 points with two rebounds.
LSU carried Sears and his momentum to a slight 32-30 halftime lead. No other Tiger notched more than three points in the first frame. It was the first time Sears had taken over a game offensively since he got to the Bayou.
But early in the second half, Sears gets stepped on by teammate Dji Bailey, grabbing his left ankle and writhing in pain. It doesn’t look good. Once his body hits the hardwood floor, silence hushes over the crowd.
Athletic trainers and McMahon rush from the opposite end of the court to tend to Sears, helping him to the locker room with arms around him.
It felt like it would be the last of Sears’ action at the PMAC. LSU recognized its seniors with a pregame ceremony, where Sears, Cam Carter, Dji Bailey, Derek Fountain and Trace Young took to the floor with their families to meet McMahon with a painting of each player.
But against all odds, Sears fought back into the game five minutes later. He wouldn’t dare miss his final home game in a Tigers jersey for the world.
“I just wanted to win,” Sears said. “I felt like I was having a great game. Kind of working on my ankle in the back a little bit and just playing through it that’s really it. I just wanted to go out there and get a dub for the guys.”
Unfortunately for Sears and the rest of the seniors, the extra fight on their special day didn’t result in victory.
Taylor slowed down in the second period, shooting 0-for-5 (0%) from the field and 0-for-3 (0%) from downtown, but knocked down all four free throws. In his place, Aggies forward Henry Coleman went to work inside. He didn’t record a single-shot attempt in the first period, but that changed in the second.
Coleman shot 5-for-9 (55.6%) from inside the 3-point line, 1-for-2 (50%) from the charity stripe for 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for a double-double.
Texas A&M outscored LSU 36-20 in the second half by playing bully ball. The Aggies had a +12 paint point differential while out-rebounding the Tigers 28-13 in the final frame.
Carter’s uncharacteristically bad games and LSU’s losses have naturally been woven together. Carter doesn’t have a ton of off nights; he averages 16.8 points per game while shooting 43% from the field, but they’ve occurred enough to know that this offense runs through him.
So when Carter shoots 2-for-12 (16.7%) from the field, 2-for-9 (22.2%) from behind the arc and 1-for-2 (50%) from the line, it’s hard to expect anything other than a loss. Sears was the only player who scored double-digit points for the purple and gold, with 21 points on the day.
“We struggled to shoot the ball in the second half and just made it incredibly difficult on us to get any closer than that down the last 10 minutes of the game,” McMahon said.
The Tigers will keep their heads up and prepare for the SEC Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. There is no other option.
LSU is the No. 15 seed in the conference and will play No. 10 Mississippi State in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on Wednesday night.
While LSU may be the underdog, that won’t stop the Tigers from giving it all like they’ve done all season.
“Just continue to be LSU, continue to build, continue to keep working, despite whatever else is going on,” Sears said. “Just keep working.”
