On Wednesday Night, the LSU Basketball team entered the SEC Tournament with a chance to pull off an upset over Mississippi State which would allow them to make a further push toward the NCAA Tournament. Rather than being a night to remember, it quickly became a night to forget for the LSU Basketball team.
Early on, LSU was making difficult shots but, the Tigers never could pull ahead as Mississippi State was getting easy baskets in the paint. Cam Carter and Jordan Sears early success allowed LSU to take a lead but, it didn't last as Mississippi State started to pour it on. The Bulldogs defense kept LSU from getting any easy looks while forcing turnovers which only made matters worse. As LSU looked to shut Mississippi State down inside the Bulldogs started to rain threes down taking a 20 point lead into the half.
The Tigers only made 8 field goals in the first half, while Mississippi State made 17 field goals. The goal coming into the game was likely to slow Josh Hubbard, the bad news was he nearly outscored LSU himself in the first half with 16 points.
Whatever Matt McMahon said at halftime worked as LSU came out fired up to start the second half. The Tigers defense was forcing turnovers and the offense was able to find a rhythm cutting the deficit to 11. The issue was once the Tigers put the Bulldogs on notice they answered as they started to hit threes pushing the lead back into the 20's.
Once Mississippi State started rolling once again, it seemed like a game LSU fans have seen all season long as LSU reached that point where they were clearly outmatched. Mississippi State looked like a team on a mission while LSU had no answers the rest of the way. The 91-62 win was Mississippi State's largest margin of victory in the SEC Tournament an absolute blowout.
The Bulldogs couldn't miss from the field shooting 52% from the field and 44% from three while LSU shot just 39.3% from the field and 19.2% from three which will never be good enough to win in this league. The Tigers once again lost the battle on the glass and turned the ball over more than their opponent like has been the case the entire year.
On the bright side for LSU, Robert Miller continues to give LSU fans a reason to be excited for next season scoring 14 points on 6-7 shooting. Jordan Sears scored 20 leading the Tigers while Cam Carter scored 13 points but, the rest of the team struggled.
On Sunday, we'll find out whether or not LSU will play Postseason Basketball outside of the NCAA Tournament.