LSU played its worst basketball of the year and got beat like one of Mississippi State’s cowbells, falling to the Bulldogs 80-66.
How can the same story only get worse?
The conference woes continued as LSU came out flat. Mississippi State had LSU’s number all game.
“They played with a sense of urgency that we were unable to match,” head coach Matt McMahon said.
With the slow start, the Tigers trailed 17-5 after just five minutes. It was clear LSU was getting outmatched physically. The difference in play also led to a stark difference in rebounding.
“They took the fight to us,” McMahon said. “It started right away on the glass… I thought the physicality around the basket really bothered us.”
The Tigers were losing the boards 9-2 at the first official timeout. The two teams were on two different levels, and it only got worse.
“We just can’t keep letting this happen,” Max Mackinnon said.
The Bulldogs had a 43-24 final advantage in rebounds. Their shooting was crisp, making 51% from the field and 10-of-21 from 3-point range.
“They were just spraying it out, knocking down shots, and we dug too deep of a hole to have a chance in this game,” McMahon said.
McMahon, who was forced to use his second timeout nine minutes into the game, was dawning a suit for the first time this year, perhaps to be a masquerade over the blemishes of his team in SEC play.
LSU has been down and fought back before, but nothing felt as hopeless as Wednesday’s contest. Mississippi State did whatever it wanted on the Tigers’ home court.
Josh Hubbard, Sergej Macura, Quincy Ballard and Ja’Borri McGhee all had double digit points for the visitors. Macura made it a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Though LSU’s second half was better, it still only made 43% of shots from the field, and 4-of-20 from 3-point range. It was also a horrid free throw exhibition, as the Tigers only made 12-of-23 from the line.
“We didn’t finish plays,” McMahon said. “We were 1-of-10 from three and 2-of-8 at the free throw line. So now you’re always playing at a disadvantage there.”
Mississippi State was moving the ball around perfectly, with everyone getting a chance to score. By the end of the first half, it’s clear that it let off of the game plan and were just having fun, taking — and making — unnecessary 3-pointers.
It wasn’t a competitive basketball game for the rest of the game.
Even when LSU was down by 28 to South Carolina, a more hopeful outlook for the future was visible. Now with Dedan Thomas Jr. back and him playing in the PMAC for the first time since December, these deep ruts felt like incurable diseases.
It’s one thing to fall behind and eventually get your offense moving, but LSU let the cruising Bulldogs keep its foot on the gas. There was no answer.
“On a night where we had 12 steals and forced 16 turnovers, we just weren’t able to convert those into enough points to get the pace to our liking,” McMahon said.
LSU has had much better results against common opponents — Kentucky, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt — but as we have seen before, came out short. Boos followed LSU into the locker room, while the team was down 44-21 at halftime.
There was even a mass exodus of students following the Tiger Girls electric performance at the break. Their dance routine received the loudest cheers heard in the PMAC all night.
You’d think you had déjà vu from the South Carolina game the way LSU came out firing in the second half facing a big deficit.
A couple 3-pointers from Mackinnon and Thomas brought the Tigers within 20, which was a win considering how the first half started.
Each of them had themselves a nice night in the scoring department; Mackinnon netted 15 points and Thomas 14.
Rashad King, who has been a reliable shooter off the bench, tacked on 14 as well. He’s played about a half per game in conference play, and has always been a solid performer with his ability to step up and lead. He did it when Thomas was out with injury and keeps performing well for LSU.
Pablo Tamba also had another solid game with 10 points, and five rebounds and a loud block sent about eight rows up in the student section.
LSU was even able to cut the lead down to 16, but a long Bulldog run was lethal for the Tigers. They only got that close again with under a minute to play.
It’s yet another conference loss for the Tigers who fall to 1-7 in that regard. LSU needs a miracle turn around to not have yet another McMahon led season fall into obscurity.
LSU plays at South Carolina on Saturday with a chance to avenge its second worst conference loss of the year. That game in Columbia tips off at 5 p.m. CT.
