LSU Basketball Leads At Half At Mississippi State, But Loses In ‘Same Old Song’

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The LSU Halfsies struck again Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers played well for a half, then fell apart and lost their third straight game, falling at No. 24 Mississippi State, 81-69, in Starkville after leading 37-35 at the half.

LSU (14-15, 3-13 Southeastern Conference) has led four times in the last three weeks at the half, only to lose – 37-31 over No. 2 Florida last Saturday before a 79-65 setback, 35-34 at Arkansas on Feb. 12 before a 70-58 loss and 39-33 over Ole Miss on Feb. 8 before losing 72-70 in overtime. The Tigers were also tied at the half at then-No. 4 Alabama on Jan. 25 before an 80-73 loss and were deadlocked at then-No. 11 Texas A&M on Jan. 18 before a 68-57 loss.

As the song says, “It’s the same old song, can’t bear to hear it.”

LSU RUNNING OUT OF CHANCES FOR ANOTHER WIN

LSU led by as many as eight in the first half. But as has often been the case, the opponent soon realized, “This is LSU.”

The Tigers were not around long in the second half as State (20-9, 8-8 SEC) gradually took over. Guard Josh Hubbard, who led all scorers with 30 points, hit three free throws for a 44-43 lead with 18:15 to play in the second half. Riley Kugel, who finished with 12, then put the Bulldogs up to stay at 48-47 with 15:01 to go on a layup. By the 8:32 mark, State had a 65-55 lead on a Claudell Harris 3-pointer.

And it was over.

Guard Cam Carter led the Tigers with 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting with 5 of 10 from 3-point range, but there was little offense from anyone else. Forward Daimion Collins scored 10 with just three rebounds. Forward Derek Fountain scored nine with five boards.

“In the second half, we weren’t able to get enough stops,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “They shot 64 percent in the second half. Really hurt us in the paint. We threw the kitchen sink at them. We used ball screens. We trapped them. We hedged them.”

But nothing worked against Hubbard, who hit 9 of 18 from the field.

“Obviously, Hubbard took over and dominated late,” McMahon said.

At least, the season is almost over. The Tigers play at No. 17 Kentucky (19-10, 8-8 SEC) on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN2), then close the regular season at home on Saturday against No. 12 Texas A&M (3 p.m., SEC Network).