The LSU basketball team experienced the highest of highs and the lowest of lows Saturday in a 64-54 loss to Mississippi State at the PMAC.
After weathering an early 27-8 Mississippi State (14-1, 3-1) run, the Tigers (12-2, 2-1) took a brief two-point lead in the second half, fueled by of their own 36-13 run.
But down the stretch the Bulldogs’ interior offense and timely 3-point shooting were too much for the Tigers to overcome.
“Early on we struggled against the zone and in the second half we made some adjustments to take the lead, but you have to credit Mississippi State for making the plays down the stretch to win the game,” said LSU coach John Brady. “I am proud of our team for coming back the way they did and showing that kind of effort against a Mississippi State team that I think is quite good.”
Sophomore guard Darrel Mitchell, who scored 10 points, said the zone defense was hard to crack in the first half.
“[The zone] can get frustrating at times, but we just have to execute and be patient,” Mitchell said. “In the second half we got open looks and that got them out of the zone for a little while, but at the end they hit big shots and we could not quite hit the shoots out of the zone and they got a win.”
LSU faced an early 19-point deficit, but cut the lead to 12 heading into the break scoring the final seven points of the period.
Xavier Whipple said halftime adjustments provided the spark LSU needed to get back into the game in the second half.
“We made an adjustment at halftime where we bumped some guys off of screens and gave them more room to penetrate,” Whipple said. “We just came out and set up for shots and just started hitting them.”
LSU chiseled away at the Bulldogs’ zone by scoring 22 points in the first nine minutes of the second half.
Whipple led the charge for the Tigers in the second half, scoring all eight of his points during the comeback.
LSU took its first and only lead of the night (42-40) on a 3-pointer from Mitchell with 8:39 remaining that got the crowd of 12,161 fans to its feet.
But a 24-12 MSU run to close out the game silenced the crowd and the LSU comeback. Freshman Gary Ervin led the Bulldogs with 13 points.
LSU’s frontcourt combination of Jaime Lloreda (13 points) and Brandon Bass (eight points) were held in check by the Bulldogs’ zone that did not allow many entry passes. The pair combined for 21 points while attempting only 13 shots.
Junior guard Antonio Hudson, who scored 11 points, said the LSU comeback shows where the team is headed.
“The key to a good team is how they handle the game when they are losing,” Hudson said. “Just the fact that we were losing like that and were able to come back is going to make us a better team in the long run. It was a good experience for the young guys, yeah we lost the game, but you can tell we have a lot of fight in our team and we just won’t quit.”
The Tigers will now go on the road to play Ole Miss in Oxford, Miss. with tip-off set for 7 p.m. Wednesday.