It’s always difficult to beat a team twice, especially when you face off against them twice in within a five day span. Just ask the LSU Tigers on Thursday night despite a strong second half came up just short in the SEC Tournament against Mississippi State.
“We dug ourselves a huge hole in the first half, to get down 16 and just not able to dig out of that hole.” Head coach Will Wade said after the ballgame.
It was all Mississippi State from the outset with the Bulldogs getting up 18-8 thanks in large part to Nick Weatherspoon scoring nine of his 15 points in the first half. It looked like the ballgame was already out of hand at the break as they got up by 16 points after a sluggish first half from the Tigers, as they shot 33 percent from the field.
The Tigers fought back early in the second half, making five of their first six shots to cut the lead down to nine points with 16:08 left. A big dunk from Brandon Rachal made it a two-point ballgame with 5:52 left in regulation, but the Bulldogs responded in the final minutes to slam the door shut on the Tigers chances after a late dunk from Nick Weatherspoon.
LSU will now wait to find out their postseason plans on Sunday. It’s expected that they will participate in the NIT, but we will find out when and where they will go on Sunday.
-Clint Domingue