BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU men’s basketball was in prime position to beat No. 10 Texas Tech Saturday afternoon. The Tigers were up 66-60 with 3:50 remaining in the game, but the Red Raiders stormed back.
With 59 seconds left in the second half and LSU retaining a four-point lead, Texas Tech swarmed LSU, specifically Mac McClung who dominated in the remaining seconds.
McClung scored a three-pointer to pull the Raiders within one point, and on the following inbounds, he stole the ball and tipped it to Terrence Shannon, Jr., who made a layup and gave Texas Tech a 72-71 lead with 29 seconds remaining in the game.
The Tigers gave up a 12-0 run in the final 59 seconds and never regained the lead. LSU lost 76-71.
“I thought that we played extremely hard. We just didn’t have some poise and some discipline that we needed in some key stretches, especially in the last minute or so. This is as disappointed as I’ve been all year. I thought we played well enough to win against a very good ball club. We couldn’t close it out,” LSU head coach Will Wade said.
One bright spot was Cam Thomas and Javonte Smart’s collectively dominant performance. The Tigers’ backcourt combined for 54 points, and Thomas had a chance to tie the game with four seconds left.
Trendon Watford however did not play well. The sophomore forward totaled four points the entire game, and he fouled out with 16 seconds remaining, attempting to get an offensive rebound off Thomas’s potential game-tying three pointer.
“We have had hot hands, and we had hot hands with Javonte and Cam tonight. I think Trendon got some good looks. They did some things, trapping him in the post and that sort of thing. It was just one of those nights. He is a great player, and he will certainly bounce back,” Wade added.
LSU’s next game will be a rematch at Alabama on Wednesday, February 3rd.
Click the video for Wade’s full post-game presser.
