LSU Basketball: Cats’ rally in final minutes to beat Tigers, 71-69

The anticipation for tonight’s LSU basketball game was at a fever pitch. It has been quite some time since interest in basketball in Baton Rouge has been at this level. 

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Could the Tigers pull off a huge upset? Ultimately, no…

LSU was so close, but came up short on its home floor.

The Tigers were up 66-60 with 7:29 left in the game but finished the game 1-for-6 and allowed No. 1 Kentucky to rally behind big man Karl Anthony-Towns’ 12 points and 13 rebounds en route to a 71-69 win in front of the 13,997 sellout crowd inside Pete Mavarich Assembly Center.

Even LSU football coach Les Miles was in the house, and found his way to the student section!

In a pivotal Southeastern Conference match-up between two teams who rely heavily on their front court, the game came down to the wire, but the Wildcats’ big men were able to put Kentucky (24-0, 11-0 SEC) over the edge for another win to keep its undefeated season alive. The Young Cats are one game within reach of tying the 1953-54 team for its best start to a season.

The Wildcats were up 58-45 after Andrew Harrison drilled in a 3-pointer to quiet the sellout crowd. Then, LSU went on a miraculous 19-2 run to take the 64-60 lead at the 7:42 mark. After Keith Hornsby’s made basket, the Tigers’ magic run lived no more.

LSU had the game’s final possession and coach Johnny Jones called timeout to draw up a play for Hornsby to come off a screen to win the game with a 3-pointer. Aaron Harrison contested the potential game-winning shot as it caromed off the backboard.

Here’s how Hornsby’s shot looked:

Hornsby finished the game with 17 points on 7-of-14 shooting.

Jarell Martin was the hot man for the Tigers, scoring a game-high 21 points and pulling down 11 rebounds. Martin went 8-of-11 from the field, but wasn’t involved in the game’s final play. Some of the fans along with some of the media members in attendance were skeptical of Jones’ shaky call.

In the final 4:21, LSU (17-7, 6-5 SEC) committed three turnovers.

Willie Cauley-Stein, Towns, Dakari Johnson, and Trey Lyles smothered Jordan Mickey and Martin each time they touched the basketball. Mickey had 16 points and seven rebounds for the game after struggling to muster a steady offensive rhythm in the first half with a six-point, two-rebound effort. Mickey’s team was down 38-34 at halftime following a half-court heave from Martin that smacked off the backboard.

One factor that helped Kentucky leave Baton Rouge with the win was its rebounding performance, outrebounding the Tigers 40-35, with the crucial one coming from Towns off a floater missed by Andrew Harrison that landed into Devin Booker’s hands. Booker made his first and only trip to the line, converting on 1-of-2 foul shots. Booker added 14 points on 6-of-14 shooting. Lyles returned to the Wildcats’ lineup after missing four games with an illness. Lyles had only four points.

As a team, the Wildcats shot 64 percent from the charity stripe but the most important one came from Booker, who sealed the win for coach John Calipari’s maturing group.

LSU jumped out to a 14-6 lead after Mickey contributed back-to-back slams. Kentucky started the game 1-for-6 from the field, but Booker’s smooth shooting from inside the 3-point line rallied the Wildcats, who shot 45.6 percent from the field. Booker dropped in a short jumper followed by a 3-pointer to cut Kentucky’s deficit to 14-11. Johnson’s tip-in had the Wildcats down only one.

Kentucky trailed for majority of the first half until Andrew Harrison’s two free throws with 3:27 left in the half gave the Wildcats their first lead of the night at 34-32. Kentucky’s next two shots came from Booker and Cauley-Stein, who was left unguarded in the paint for the easy alley-oop with the floating assist from Andrew Harrison, who finished with 13 points.

Cauley-Stein had dunk after dunk for the Wildcats, with most of them coming from assists floating through mid-air. Cauley-Stein finished the night with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting to go along with his seven rebounds.

LSU finishes up its three-game homestand at 1-2, with losses to Auburn and Kentucky, and the lone win coming against Alabama.

Next up for the Tigers, two road games. First, this Saturday at Tennessee for a 3:00 pm CT tip, then next Tuesday, a rematch with Texas A&M, with tip time in College Station at 8:00 pm CT.