Consider it the perfect storm of LSU losses.Every problem the No. 20 LSU men’s basketball team has had throughout the season – from poor shooting to post defense – played a factor in a 67-57 loss to Mississippi State in the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Saturday.The Tigers (26-7, 14-4) could not build on defensive progress made Friday against Kentucky, suffering through a woeful shooting performance on the way to the loss. LSU shot 31.4 percent from the field on the day and only hit four 3-pointers.”Mississippi State was better this afternoon,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson in a postgame radio interview. “Defensively there were some breakdowns over the course of the game … and this time of the year that happens.”Mississippi State forward Jarvis Varnado gave the Tigers fits in the paint, just like Vanderbilt center A.J. Ogilvy and Auburn forward Korvotney Barber in previous LSU losses.Varnado bullied LSU senior center Chris Johnson in the post for 19 points, seven rebounds and seven blocks.The Bulldogs’ post presence wore the entire LSU starting lineup down over a very defensive second half. Five LSU players – Chris Johnson, senior guard Garrett Temple, senior guard Marcus Thornton, senior forward Quintin Thornton and sophomore guard Bo Spencer – found themselves in severe foul trouble with 10 minutes still remaining in the game.”We got beat. We didn’t play well,” Trent Johnson said. “We had an opportunity to put ourselves in a situation to play for an outright SEC championship, so the feeling in the locker room is not good.”While LSU couldn’t find an answer for Varnado, the Bulldogs succeeded in shutting down the Tigers’ first team All-SEC duo of Thornton and junior forward Tasmin Mitchell. Mitchell dropped 41 points on Mississippi State in the teams’ last meeting Feb. 11 but was held to 15 points on 38 percent shooting in the tournament rematch.Thornton learned how Kentucky’s Jodie Meeks must have felt Friday afternoon, as Mississippi State held him to 14 points and 0-of-six 3-point shooting.”Offensively I thought we went off on our own a little bit and tried to do too much at times,” Trent Johnson said.The Bulldogs (23-12, 11-7) advance to the SEC tournament championship game where they will face either Tennessee or Auburn. The Tigers must now return home and await their fate at the hands of the NCAA selection committee, which will announce LSU’s NCAA tournament seed and destination Sunday afternoon.”We’re scheduled to get together in our locker room … and afterward we’ll get prepared for our next opponent,” Trent Johnson said. “The silver lining in all this is we get to have a day and a half off to get ready for the NCAA tournament.”—-Contact David Helman at [email protected]