The LSU men’s basketball team began the new year by opening SEC conference play on the road, traveling to College Station to take on a 10-win Texas A&M team. The Tigers fought their way back multiple times in Saturday’s game, but it wasn’t enough as the Bayou Bengals lost 75-72 to drop to 12-2 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU scored four seconds into the ball game after winning the opening tip, and Max Mackinnon threw a cross-court pass to Mike Nwoko for the easy layup. That was the only basket for the Tigers until the 15:46 mark when Mackinnon hit a 25-foot three-pointer. In between those two made shots, LSU went 3/4 from the free throw line and missed six shot attempts.
Texas A&M’s press defense was forcing the Bayou Bengals into taking awkward shots and a couple of turnovers. The press helped the Aggies jump out to a 16-8 lead six minutes into the ball game. Marcus Hill was responsible for his team’s first two buckets, then Ruebn Dominguez and Ali Dibba scored from behind the arc on back-to-back possessions. The early run ended with a tip-in layup by Zach Lawrence.
The Tigrs began to find their rhythm on offense, beginning with a pull-up jumper by Rahsad King. A&M’s defense was affecting them as much, and they were finding cleaner looks. LSU wasn’t hitting many shots, but didn’t let its largest deficit grow any larger than seven points as each team traded buckets on multiple possessions.
Over the final 5:10 of the first half, LSU outscored Texas A&M 13-10. Nwoko scored the first six points for the Bayou Bengals before Mackinnon knocked down another three-pointer, and Robert Miller III scored on an off-balance shot in the paint. That tough shot gave LSU its first lead since the game’s opening possession. Mackinnon’s made free throws extended the Tiger lead to three with a minute to play.
In those final 60 seconds, Ryan Griffen and Dominguez scored from downtown on A&M’s final two possessions as Jalen Reece misfired on a floater. LSU found itself down 37-34 going into the half.
Nwoko continued to be the main source of scoring for the Tiger offense, responsible for the team’s first six points of the second half. Reece found him twice for alley-oop dunks, and Nwoko made a pair of free throws, through the first three-and-a-half minutes.
The Aggies then went on a 13-3 run. It began with back-to-back triples by Dominguez to force Tigers head coach Matt McMahon to burn a timeout as A&M’s lead jumped to seven. Following the pause in action, Hill scored in the paint and made one from the charity stripe, and Pop Isaacs capped the run with a layup to go up 52-42 less than seven and a half minutes into the second half.
The next couple of minutes were back-and-forth, with Mackinnon scoring twice just for Isaacs to hit an open three from the top of the key. Miller III then converted on the tip-in just for Dibba to hit a three-pointer and Rashaun Agee to catch the alley-oop from Dominguez.
After that, LSU went on a 14-3 run to take its first lead since the first half. Five Tiger players scored during the run, with Miller III scoring on consecutive possessions. Miller’s hook shot gave the Bayou Bengals the 64-63 advantage with 5:33 to play.
The next two plus minutes of action featured a scoring drought for both teams. Neither could get a clean look and turned the ball over a couple of times. The drought subsided when Agee hit his second of two free throws, Reece found Pablo Tamba for the open layup, and Agee scored again, this time on a two-foot hook shot.
Reece cut it to a one-point game with 90 seconds to go, and Nwoko had an opportunity to take the lead late but missed the turnaround hook shot. Agee scored again late and forced LSU to take a timeout with 17 seconds remaining.
A lot happened in the final 11 seconds. After King made a pair of free throws, Dominguez missed one of his two attempts to open the door for LSU. Reece tried and failed to throw a half-court alley-oop to Nwoko as the basketball hit the bottom corner of the backboard and went out of bounds, forcing the Tigers to foul again with 4.2 seconds left. Isaacs made both from the charity stripe to go up by four.
Agee opened the door for an upset for LSU by fouling Nwoko on an inbound pass. The junior forward also made both free throws to cut the deficit in half. Griffen then went 1/2 from the line, giving the Tigers one more chance. Coach McMahon subbed in his shooting lineup on the final play, including freshman Mazi Mosley, who hadn’t touched the floor to that point in the game. The ball found the 6’5″ guard, who had a good look and fired from the right wing. The shot missed, and LSU lost 75-72, dropping them to 12-2 on the season.
BIG NUMBER: 4
LSU has lost its last four games against Texas A&M, going back to the 2023-24 season. The last time the Bayou Bengals got the better of the Aggies was when they won on the road 68-53 on January 6th, 2024.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Rashaun Agee
Agee was A&M’s leading scorer on Saturday with 15 points on 4/10 shooting. The senior big man also led the team in rebounding with 11 as the Aggies took down the Tigers 75-72.
UP NEXT: The LSU men’s basketball team will return home on Tuesday, January 6th, to play the South Carolina Gamecocks. Tipoff from the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is set for 6:00 PM, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.