LSU reached rock bottom on Saturday night … for now.
The Tigers lost to the 11th place team in the Southeastern Conference by 89-58 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for their most lopsided league setback since coach Matt McMahon’s first season in 2022-23.
And unranked Texas (15-7, 4-5) is still below .500 in the SEC after a 1-4 start with a 20-point loss at No. 12 Texas A&M on Jan. 4 and a 24-point loss at No. 5 Florida on Jan. 18. This was a team on LSU’s level, but the 15th place Tigers (12-9, 1-7 SEC) looked outclassed from the outset in dropping their fourth straight.
LSU’s three previous losses were at least to top 10 teams – No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Alabama and No. 10 Texas A&M. The Tigers’ lonely SEC win was on Jan. 14 over Arkansas, which was 12-8 and 1-6 for a 15th place tie going into No. 12 Kentucky on Saturday night.
The 31-point margin of victory was the SEC newbie Longhorns’ largest in a road league game since winning by 31, 83-52, on Jan. 11, 2011, at Texas Tech in the Big 12. It was LSU’s largest point loss since a 106-66 defeat at Alabama on Jan. 14, 2023.
The Tigers were in the game at the half, trailing by just 31-25, but the Longhorns took a 39-29 lead less than four minutes into the second half and stampeded the rest of the way. They opened a 55-35 lead at the 11:21 mark
“Honestly, we just didn’t match the same intensity we had in the first half,” LSU guard Jordan Sears said. “Credit to them, they were scoring at will. They kind of got what they wanted.”
Freshman guard Tre Johnson and senior guard Tramon Mark each scored 18 to lead Texas. Senior forward Kadin Shedrick added 16 with 10 rebounds and three steals. Texas gathered eight steals in all as LSU committed 15 turnovers.
LSU senior guard Cam Carter had his worst game of the season, scoring just six points on 2-of-7 shooting after coming in averaging 18 a game. LSU missed 13 of 15 shots from 3-point range. Sears was the Tigers’ only player with double-figure points as he scored 13.
“I don’t think it was anything special they were doing on defense,” Sears said. “It was us being stagnant on offense. It just wasn’t our night to hit shots.”
Or much of anything actually.
“Incredibly disappointed we weren’t able to respond better coming out of the break,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “I thought their offensive execution was elite. We weren’t able to respond on either end of the floor.”
Texas hit 36 of 64 shots for 56 percent, including 10 of 21 from 3-point range for 47 percent. The Longhorns outrebounded LSU, 35-23, with 25 on the defensive end to but four offensive rebounds by LSU.
“On the offensive glass, we were non-existent,” McMahon said. “We just couldn’t stop them regardless of what our coverage was.”
Asked what he told his team, McMahon turned it on himself.
“I apologized for not having them ready to play,” he said.
But there could be lineup or rotation changes when the Tigers play at Georgia (15-7, 3-6 SEC) on Wednesday (8 p.m., SEC Network). The Bulldogs fell at No. 4 Alabama, 90-69, on Saturday.
“I need to try to determine who should be playing and looking at different combinations,” McMahon said. “That’s all I know to do.”
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