In a back-and-forth affair that saw seven ties and 14 lead changes, the LSU men’s basketball team lost its Southeastern Conference opener to Missouri in overtime, 74-67, on Thursday night in Columbia, Missouri.

Nineteen LSU (11-3, 0-1 SEC) turnovers and three-point shooting by Missouri (7-7, 1-0 SEC) hindered LSU, which was riding an eight-game winning streak that started after the Nov. 24 loss to Clemson in the Paradise Jam. 

Despite LSU junior guard Keith Hornsby’s three-pointer to send the game into overtime tied at 65, LSU went 0-for-8 from the field in the extra period, and Missouri connected on 7-of-9 free throws to secure the victory.

“We didn’t do a great job tonight. It’s obvious,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones in a post-game radio interview. “[We] put ourselves in a position coming here having been playing well.  [It was a] great opportunity to get a road victory…Unfortunately, after getting the lead, we played a little bit out of character for ourselves in terms of how we’ve played all year.”

Missouri was led by sophomore forward Jonathan Williams III, who notched 21 points on 8-of-17 shooting along with 10 rebounds. Sophomore guard Wes Clark chipped in 13 points and was 4-of-12 from three-point range for a team that was 9-of-22 from deep on the night.

In a game that featured multiple runs, LSU was unable to secure an eight-point second half lead with less than eight minutes to go. Missouri went on a 14-2 run in less than five minutes to take a 60-56 lead before LSU junior guard Keith Hornsby, who had 17 points and 8 rebounds, nailed a three-pointer to cut the lead to one.

LSU failed to establish an inside presence as sophomore forwards Jordan Mickey and Jarell Martin struggled with foul trouble and couldn’t stop Missouri’s tandem of Williams and senior forward Keanau Post, who had 12 points and seven rebounds.  Missouri dominated the paint, scoring 36 of its 74 points down low.

Missouri averaged only 65.4 points coming into the game and were without freshman guard Montaque Gil-Caesar, the team’s second-leading scorer.

LSU, which was in the bonus for most of the second half, shot only 13-of-23 from the free throw line, including 2-of-5 in overtime.

“We did not do a great job in that five-minute segment [of overtime] in terms of offensively executing to the point of making plays and making it tough on them,” Jones said.

Sophomore guard Tim Quarterman and freshman guard Jalyn Patterson were two bright spots for LSU. Quarterman finished with 19 points and six rebounds, while Patterson added 11 points.

After a slow start by both teams in the first half, LSU entered halftime with 30-27 lead after a series of runs.  

In the opening five minutes, both teams shot a combined 3-of-16 from the field with six turnovers.  LSU responded with an 11-0 run sparked by nine points off the bench from Patterson to take an 17-6 lead with 10 minutes to go in the first half.

Missouri responded with a 14-1 run of its own, during which LSU went over five minutes without a field goal.  The run was capped with a two-handed putback dunk by Williams to give Missouri the lead.

Hornsby immediately answered the dunk by Williams with a three-pointer to start a 10-3 run by LSU at the end of the first half.

Both Mickey and Martin did not play in the final six minutes of the first half due to having two fouls apiece.
“At the end of the day, we let a great opportunity slip away,” Jones said.