GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
For the second time in two weeks, an opposing basketball coach sat at the postgame podium at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday and raved about what LSU did to his team in the first half.
And for the second time in two weeks, the Tigers disintegrated in a second half and lost. On this night it was 66-52 to No. 22 Texas A&M to end a lost regular season after leading 32-30 at the break. Two weeks ago, LSU led No. 2 Florida, 37-31, at halftime, only to lose 79-65.
“I thought we were really bad in the first half in every possible way,” Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “I thought LSU just completely dominated us on the glass – their energy, their competitive spirit. We were not very good in any possible way. Turned it over four times in a row. They were demolishing us on the glass. It was the worst we’ve been on the offensive or defensive glass in any half in SEC play.”
LSU outrebounded Texas A&M 11-4 at the Aggies’ basket in the first half and erased an early 19-9 deficit to take a 29-20 lead with 5:39 to go on a 3-pointer by Daimion Collins. The Aggies (22-9, 11-7 Southeastern Conference) trimmed that to two by the break.
In typical LSU fashion, the Tigers started slow in the second half, missing 14 of 15 shots and fell behind by 47-37 with 10:08 to play. The Aggies outscored LSU, 23-5, over the first 12 minutes of the second half to take a 53-37 lead just past the eight-minute mark. And it was long over.
Wade Taylor led the Aggies with 17 points. Henry Coleman added 11 with 10 rebounds. The Aggies “demolished” LSU on the boards, 28-13, in the second half and 42-27 for the game.
Senior Jordan Sears led the Tigers with 21 and was LSU’s only player in double figures. In his last home game as a Tiger, Cam Carter missed 10 of 12 shots and 7 of 9 from 3-point range, finishing with seven points after coming in averaging more than twice as many and scoring in double figures in 15 SEC games.
The Tigers were without two starters – freshman guard Vyctorius Miller (ankle) and forward Corey Chest (foot).
“I do think that we responded much better in the second half,” Williams said.
Florida coach Todd Golden had an eerily similar commentary after he found himself down six at the break in the Assembly Center on Feb. 22, but he said it more succinctly.
“I thought they punked us in the back half of the second half,” Golden said. “Didn’t allow us to operate very comfortably offensively, and we’ve been pretty good that way.”
Then in the second half, “I thought we imposed our will on them,” Golden said.
The Tigers are experts at getting SEC will imposed on them. LSU (14-17 overall) lost its fifth straight SEC game and finished the regular season in 15th place out of 16 in the league at 3-15. South Carolina (12-19) finished last at 2-16 after losing at Tennessee on Saturday.
The 15-seed Tigers play Wednesday in the SEC Tournament in Nashville against No. 10 seed Mississippi State (20-11, 8-10) at 6 p.m. on the SEC Network. LSU lost at State, 81-69, last Saturday. And guess what? LSU led that game 37-35 at the half.
“First half, I thought we really dialed in on the defensive end. Offensively, we did a really good job getting to the line. The game really shifted at the start of the second half,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said after the game, as he could have following any number of games.
“We struggled to finish some plays at the rim in the first five minutes of the second half. And A&M really overwhelmed us on the offensive glass and stretched the lead out to 10,” he said.
LSU shot 6 of 27 (22 percent) from the field in the second half and 3 of 15 from 3-point range (20 percent) in managing just 20 points in 20 minutes.
“The way we struggled to shoot the ball in the second half – that just made it incredibly difficult for us to get any closer the last 10 minutes of the game,” McMahon said.
And incredibly hard to watch.
LSU’S LOST REGULAR SEASON FINALLY OVER – ALLELUIA
LSU has lost in this fashion five times over this last stretch of the season. In addition to the previously mentioned games against Florida, A&M and Mississippi State, the Tigers led 35-34 at Arkansas on Feb. 12 before a 70-58 loss, and they were up 39-33 over Ole Miss on Feb. 8 before losing 72-70 in overtime.
Earlier in the season, 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.
McMahon can game plan well, but once the opponent counters, it appears he’s in trouble. But this is partly because McMahon doesn’t have enough players who can shoot well for more than a few minutes in what has usually been one half. A coach can create open shots for players, but he can’t take the shots for them.
McMahon recruited his team, though, and he has to select better shooters and players from conferences more similar to the SEC – not from average leagues, which is what he had this season. LSU looked more akin to the Sun Belt than the SEC throughout the SEC season.
LSU has promised more of a financial commitment to NIL for McMahon’s current and future rosters. If that happens, he needs to use the additional NIL money wisely just to be more competitive in the nation’s best league and not an embarrassment.
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