LSU falls to Mississippi State in SEC Tournament
NASHVILLE, Tennessee – Mississippi State rallied in the second half from a seven-point halftime deficit to score a 70-60 win over LSU in the second round Thursday of the Southeastern Conference men’s basketball tournament at the Bridgestone Arena.
LSU falls to 17-15 overall after finishing 9-9 and in a tie for seventh place in the SEC in the regular season. The Tigers will now wait to see if they will be in the 32-team field announced Sunday night at 8:30 p.m. for the postseason NIT.
Down 15-13 entering the final 10 minutes of the first half, Jordan Wright and Mike Williams III hit three-pointers to give LSU the 19-15 lead with 8:47 to go before halftime. Hunter Dean pushed the lead to six, 23-17, with a driving dunk with 4:06 to play in the half and the Tigers, despite 13 first-half turnovers, went to the dressing room, up 32-25.
Eight players scored for LSU in the first 20 minutes with Hunter Dean the leading scorer with seven. The Tigers held Mississippi State to just seven first-half field goals (7-of-24, 29 percent) and 1-of-10 from distance as LSU lead for most of the final 10 minutes of the half.
But in the second half, the Bulldogs (20-12) came out after both teams missed shots in their opening two possessions and began to connect.
State got a three-point play (FG and FT) and a three-pointer to cut the margin to 29-28 at the 18:14 mark forcing an LSU timeout. LSU got on the board on a Will Baker three and a Tyrell Ward steal and score to push the LSU margin back to 34-28. But State would run off six straight points to take a 36-34 lead before Trae Hannibal’s jumper tied it at 36-36 with 12:23 to play.
But a 10-3 run by State gave them a 46-39 advantage that they would not give up. LSU had a 7-0 run keyed by Hannibal and Williams to cut it to one point with 5:22 left, 53-52, the Tigers could not get enough stops in the end to get the lead back against State.
State made 16-of-31 field goals in the second half (50.8 percent) and 5-of-11 from distance, while LSU was held to just 30 percent in the second half 8-of-26. The Tigers finished 19-of-50 for the game (38 percent) and 7-of-20 from distance (35 percent).
Hannibal made 6-of-8 field goals and 6-of-7 free throws to finish with a game high 18 points while Dean hit 3-of-4 field goals and 4-of-6 free throws to finish with 10 points. Ward had eight points and Wright and Williams had seven each. Wright had a team high eight rebounds.
Josh Hubbard led Mississippi State with 24 points, while Dashawn Davis had 12. Tolu Smith (13) and D. J. Jeffries (11) had double figure boards as the teams drew even in rebounds at 36.
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LSU HC Matt McMahon postgame press conference
Opening statement
“Congratulations to Mississippi State. We put ourselves in a good position in the first half with our defense and our energy. Our defensive rebounding was terrific. The turnovers stopped us from extending the lead during that stretch. Mississippi State is obviously an NCAA Tournament team and a team that could play into the second weekend and showed why in the second half. They made some great plays on offense and earned the victory.”
On the first half
“Especially on the defensive side of the bal, we played with great physicality. that’s thge strength of Mississippi State and was a huge concern coming in. We did a good job except for the eight times we sent Hubbard to the free throw line. We would love to have those back. I don’t think we took advantage in that stretch on the offensive side. We had 12 turnovers, we were two for our first seven there. We weren’t able to extend the lead during that time.”
What surprised you about this job?
“The SEC is the best league in the league and you know the talent is off the charts. You’ve got multiple Hall of Fame coaches. The rim protection is incredible. You have tobe able to finish plays at the rim. If you go in with soft layups you’re not going to make them in this league. That certainly stands out.”
Closing statement
I” have great admiration and respect for the effort of our players today. They came in locked in and ready to go. They competed at the highest level on defense and on the glass, but unfortunately we weren’t able to score enough or slow them down once Hubbard got going. really proud of our players for their response once adversity hit multiple times this season and hopefully we’ll have the opportunity to continue to play.”
