LSU Men’s Basketball celebrated Senior Night on Saturday in the PMAC, where they honored Jordan Sears, Cam Carter, Dji Bailey, Derrick Fountain, Adam Benhayoune and Trace Young.
The night ended in a bitter 66-52 loss for the Tigers spoiling the celebration.
While the night didn’t go as planned for the Tigers, for several possessions the Aggies were also unable to finish at the rim, resulting in turnover after turnover and brought Tiger fans to their feet. After a promising first-half performance by Jordan Sears, the Tigers were set up for greatness.
“I thought he was terrific in the first half… Unfortunately [he] had the ankle injury there but showed some real grit and toughness getting back in the fight. That [was] much needed for us,” McMahon said of Sears’ Senior Night contribution.
Scoring 21 points and shooting 6-7 from the free-throw line, Sears left it all on the court in his last game inside the PMAC. Despite what he was able to do for the Tigers on both sides of the ball, a limited roster and the Aggies’ surge of physicality made up the recipe for disaster for Sears and the Tigers.
“I think it certainly hurt us. You know, we were in a situation there, had three bigs able to play today, two in major foul trouble,” McMahon said.
With both Robert Miller III and Daimion Collins drawing five personal fouls each, it was nearly impossible for the Tigers to defend an aggressive Aggie team in the paint.
Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor IV led the Aggies with 17 points and a total of six rebounds with the help of Henry Coleman III scoring 11 points and outworking the Tigers on the glass with 10 rebounds.
“The game really shifted [at the] start of the second half,” McMahon said. “We missed a layup at the end of the first, and then we struggled to finish some plays at the rim,” he added.
While finishing the regular season with a 3-15 conference play record is disappointing to Tiger fans, the Tigers’ season isn’t over yet. They’ll face Mississippi State on Wednesday at 6 p.m. in the first round of the SEC Tournament.
The Tigers were defeated by the Bulldogs 70-60 in last year’s tournament, and have yet to beat them this season, but will look to find their spark as they wrap up an underwhelming season.
