Matt McMahon cites one key statistic in LSU's SEC Tourney loss to Mississippi State

The LSU Tigers season is officially over unless they receive an invitation to the NIT and choose to accept it. The Tigers lost to Mississippi State in their first game in the second round of the SEC Tournament 70-60.

In his postgame press conference, head coach Matt McMahon talked about how proud he was of his team and their fight during the game, but ultimately turnovers were the biggest reason LSU was not able to stay in it.

"We had 12 turnovers. We were two for our first seven at the free-throw line."

- Matt McMahon

LSU played well in the first half and even had the lead 29-22 over the Bulldogs. They also held Mississippi State's leading scorer Josh Hubbard, who dropped 32 points on LSU in their first meeting this season, to 10 points making just one shot in the first half and making a living from the free-throw line.

However, when the second half hit, the same team that was on the court in the first half was nowhere to be seen. Mississippi State came out ready and was able to crawl back into the game, and once they took the lead were not going to give it up.

"We knew they'd come out ready to go to start the second half. For whatever reason, we weren't locked in to play at the level that was required for this game when that second half started."

- Matt McMahon

LSU had a total of 18 turnovers in the game, most of them coming in the first half which is why they were not able to extend their first-half lead more. They cleaned up the turnovers int eh second half by only having five, but that time, their defense was not as strong and it was in the first half.

McMahon made a point at the end of the press conference to talk about how proud he was of his team and their effort today and he hopes they will have an opportunity to play more this season.

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