Needing a win in the second round of the Southeastern Conference basketball tournament, the LSU men’s basketball team was unable to take advantage of a superb start led by Antonio Hudson and lost to South Carolina, 85-64 Friday at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
Subsequently, LSU did not receive a bid to the NCAA Tournament that starts Thursday and will now most play in the National Invitational Tournament. According to LSU Sports Information, the Tigers will face Oklahoma in Norman, Okla. on Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN in the first round of the NIT.
LSU, which finished out the season 18-10 and 8-8 in conference, was penalized by the loss of senior center Jaime Lloreda, who left the team after the loss to Kentucky on Feb. 29 because of persistent foot injuries.
The Tigers became the first team to receive a bye in the first round of the SEC Tournament and not make the NCAA Tournament, probably due to the absence of their leading scorer and rebounder. LSU lost seven of eight games without Lloreda.
But most tournament forecasters believed a win over USC in the SEC Tournament would have garnered LSU a bid to the field of 65.
“We would have rather been in the NCAA and when our team was right, we were going to be in the NCAA,” LSU coach John Brady said after watching the Selection Show. “Had we won one more game, we would have probably made it anyway, but we are still playing basketball. It is our fourth postseason tournament in the last five years, and we get to play another basketball game with a young team that is going to gain experience every time it goes on the floor.”
Brady said he thought LSU had a good enough strength of schedule to get in the tournament, but other factors were likely involved.
“Certainly what happened to us over the last couple of weeks was difficult for me and difficult for our team. I hope it doesn’t happen to anyone else,” Brady said.
Early on in the game Friday, it appeared that very important victory was well on its way.
Hudson was a man possessed in the first half as he missed only one shot, a free throw, on his way 18 first half points.
At one point, LSU was up by 15 points in the first stanza, but USC slimmed the margin to one point at half time.
The second half was a completely different story, with the Tigers cooling off and shooting 62 percent while the Gamecocks shot a scorching 64 percent from the field.
USC outrebounded LSU, 35-26 and played like a team that knew it needed to win a game to lock up a bid to the NCAA’s.
“The first 16 minutes we players as good as we could,” Brady said. “South Carolina was more physical through the rest of the game and we didn’t match that. We missed some good shots as well as free throws. South Carolina expanded the score and took something out of our team in the last seven minutes. South Carolina made some really big shots. There was an inability to stop them in the second half.”
The SEC did receive six bids as a conference to the NCAA Tournament with Florida and Alabama, both teams LSU beat, being invited. Mississippi State, Vanderbilt, USC and No. 1 overall seed Kentucky were also invited.