Brandon Bass put the Tigers in a dead heat with No. 4 Kentucky during Saturday’s Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinals when his jump shot from the top of the key rattled and went down to tie the game at 70 and forced overtime.
“I thought the game was over because I thought we were only down one,” Bass said. “That shot was big, but it would’ve been bigger if we had won the game.”
LSU guard Tack Minor’s layup attempt during overtime fell short at the buzzer, and the Tigers tournament run ended with a 79-78 loss to the Wildcats.
Kentucky (25-4, 16-2 SEC) improved its record to 14-1 over LSU in the SEC Tournament and snapped the Tigers’ seven-game winning streak in the process.
“For our team to come in and play as well as it did in this environment, it has to help your team even in losing,” said LSU coach John Brady after the game. “It will help us in the NCAA tournament. It has to help your team and I think you take something positive from this.”
LSU (20-9, 13-5) took a 72-70 lead in overtime when freshman forward Glen Davis put back his own miss off the opening tip. Stretching its lead to five twice during the extra period, LSU took a 78-73 lead on a pair of free throws from Davis.
Davis scored his ninth career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Patrick Sparks hit a 3-pointer with 1:38 remaining to pull the Wildcats within two. He buried 5-of-8 from beyond the arc for Kentucky and scored 17 points.
Davis missed a pair of free throws on the next possession that would have given the Tigers a two-possession lead. LSU made 15-of-22 free throws for 68.1 percent in the contest.
“I don’t think fatigue hit us hard,” Davis said. “We’ve been in these situations before with three overtime games [this season]. It’s just that things didn’t go our way with a free throw here or a rebound there.”
Kentucky’s Kelenna Azubuike hit his first free throw but missed the second and forward Chuck Hayes grabbed the rebound from Bass’ arms, and the Wildcats retained possession. Hayes scored on a layup, giving his squad the boost it needed to play in Sunday’s SEC Championship game.
“I think we got a little fatigued, but that’s our team,” Brady said. “You can say this or that about a lot of plays in the game, but it came down to two possessions where we didn’t get the rebound.”
Bass gave LSU a 36-31 on a jumper with 18:48 left in the second half. He earned his 18th career double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds.
The Wildcats clawed back with an 11-2 run and took a 42-38 lead at the 14:47 mark in the second half. UK held that lead until Minor’s jump shot fell and tied the game, 51-51, with eight minutes left.
Sparks’ 3-pointer gave the Wildcats their largest lead — 60-52 at the 6:12 mark, and Kentucky appeared to have the game well in hand with a seven-point lead with less than two minutes in regulation.
But two straight 3-pointers from Darrel Mitchell and poor free-throw shooting from Kentucky put Bass in position for the buzzer beater.
LSU took an early 9-6 lead four minutes into the game with consecutive 3-pointers from senior guard Antonio Hudson. He scored a game-high 21 points and hit 4-of-8 from 3-point range.
The Tigers hit 7-of-22 from beyond the arc in the contest.
The Wildcats reeled off a 9-2 run and led 15-9 on guard Joe Crawford’s layup at the 13:20 mark of the first half.
LSU regained the lead and stretched it to 23-20 on Mitchell’s layup with six minutes left.
But Crawford’s free throw completed an old-fashioned 3-point play to give the Wildcats a 25-23 advantage. He scored 14 points.
The teams exchanged leads twice more down the stretch and LSU led 32-31 at halftime.
 
LSU 89 Auburn 58
Freshman forward Glen Davis paced the Tigers on Friday in their quarterfinal victory over Auburn with 24 points and eight rebounds.
LSU hit 55.2 percent of its shots for the game, but senior guard Antonio Hudson blazed the victory path during the first half. He scored 17 of his 21 points in the first half, and LSU led 46-26 at halftime.
Hudson hit 5-of-7 attempts from 3-point range. The Tigers tied a season-high 11-of-18 from beyond the arc during the contest.
LSU also held Auburn to a 33.8 field-goal percentage, and the Plainsmen made only 6-of-27 3-pointers.