STARKVILLE, Miss. — The LSU men’s basketball team continued its late-game struggles on Saturday, as Mississippi State hit a season-best 13 three pointers to snap a three-game losing streak, 85-78.
LSU (13-9, 2-6 SEC) lost its fifth-straight game, all against SEC opponents. The Tigers committed 19 turnovers to overshadow their 53-percent effort from the field (31 of 58).
Mississippi State (12-9, 3-5 SEC) shot 48 percent from three-point range (13 of 27) and used a 10-2 run late in the game to demoralize the Tigers. The Bulldogs finished 29 of 51 from the field (51 percent).
Glen Davis once again led the Tigers with 27 points and 10 rebounds, including 3-of-5 from three-point range and 10-of-16 from the field. Point guard Garrett Temple added 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Terry Martin was 6-of-11 for 14 points.
Unlike the first three games of its current losing streak, the Tigers’ shooting wasn’t the problem. LSU wasn’t able to perform on the defensive end of the count as its done throughout the season.
Reginald Delk made five three-pointers and led four Bulldogs in double figures with 18 points. Forward Dietric Slater had a pair of treys and was 6-of-9 shooting to add 15, while guard Jamont Gordon made 8-of-10 free throws to score 14. Forward Charles Rhodes was 6-of-8 for 13 points.
After making only 3-of-9 free throws in the first half, Mississippi State was 11-of-12 in the second half.
LSU led by as many as 11 in the first nine minutes of the game, 18-7, but Mississippi State responded with a 7-0 run to close the gap to 18-14 only 94 seconds later.
Mississippi State’s next three baskets all came from three-point range, bringing the Bulldogs within one, 24-23, with 7:16 to play in the half.
The Tigers used a layup by Davis to build a five-point lead, 28-23, but again the Bulldogs closed the gap to one with layups by Dietric Slater and Jamont Gordon.
Despite LSU’s 61-percent shooting in the first half, Mississippi State tied the game with a layup at the buzzer, 39-39.
Leading 62-61 on a three-point play by Garrett Temple, LSU allowed Mississippi State a 10-2 run and put the Tigers in a 71-64 hole with 5:54 to play.
LSU got no closer than five.
LSU Head Coach John Brady
OPENING COMMENTS…
“We did not get back in transition very well and they hit three-pointers all over us. In the second half, we played transition defense slightly better, but they beat us off the dribble constantly. We have been having a problem offensively, but we seemed to have corrected that the last couple of games, and now its time to work on the other end. There are a lot of the little things that we do not do well and need to correct. They shot the ball very well tonight, but we did not do a good job covering it, especially in the first half. We did a good job rebounding tonight. We took much better care of the basketball in the second half than in the first half, and to me that was a crucial factor in the game. Whenever my team gives up 85 points, there is a problem.”
ON THE QUICK FIRST-HALF START…
“The score at halftime was 39-39, so I don’t think the game ever got away from anybody. To me, when the game gets away from you, you are down by 15 or 20 points. I do not believe the game ever got away from us. I think we do not make significant plays consistently or when we need to. You can say whatever you would like to say, but the bottom line is it is my job to put these guys in a position to do the things they do well, and the guys that don’t do certain things well, make them better at that. Evidently, I have not been able to do that well with this team to this point. We improve in one area and we breakdown in another area. We have to continue to work, teach, remain positive and get through this the best we can. We are all frustrated, but we have to continue to work hard and get back on track.”
ON MSU’S THREE-POINT SHOOTING…
“Shooting 13-for-27 [from three-point territory] is very good. It basically was the difference in the game when you look at it. We make six three-pointers, and they make 13 three-pointers; that is a 21-point difference. They just shot it very well. They have not been shooting it that well the last couple of games, but they did tonight and that allowed them to get some things going for them. We switched our defenses up and they adjusted well. We are not a team right now that can come back from that type of shooting.”
Mississippi State Head Coach Rick Stansbury
OPENING COMMENTS…
“It’s always nice to win, and I am proud for our team. We have been fighting and fighting and just been coming up a play short here or there in the last couple of games. Something good happened tonight, and it happened to them by playing with another energy level. I have always said that when you shoot the basketball, good things happen. We had some guys ? Reggie Delk, Richard [Delk] and Barry Stewart ? jump up and take some shots that they have been taking and making in the last three games. I thought Jamont Gordon had a fantastic floor game. He played hard, particularly in the first half when he got the ball in the lane and kicked out to those shooters. I thought Ben [Hansbrough] came off the bench and gave us steady minutes. It was one of those games that you have to find a way to win. John [Brady] has a very good basketball team. They are capable of beating anybody on any night. I know that he will find a way to get that team turned around. They can be as good as anybody down the stretch.”
ON THE THREE-POINT SHOOTING…
“When you make shots, it makes the world go round. Those same shots Reggie made tonight, in the last three games, he is 2-for-13 and all of them are the same shots. When you are a shooter, you keep shooting.”
ON PLAYING IN THE ROLES TONIGHT…
“The role every game is to shoot it; sometimes they go in, sometimes they don’t. Naturally, you would like your shooters to keep shooting. I thought we got some hard play from Charles Rhodes. His stats do not show some things that he did, but I thought he played hard.”
ON ANOTHER LEVEL OF ENERGY…
“We all understood the urgency of this game. We don’t ever talk about ?must’ games and I am not going to talk about a ?must’ win again, but we all understood how important this game was without saying that. We have enough battlers and guys that will battle you, and the last couple of days we went back to a few basics ? defending and rebounding.”
ON THE TEAM’S AGGRESIVENESS…
“I thought Ben did a good job in the minutes that he was out there. We did a good job of getting the ball to Charles [Rhodes] even though that double-team came on him a lot. He created some three-point plays. I thought we had a good balance of driving the basketball to the hole and getting to the free-throw line.”
ON HIS TEAM…
“Even though we have lost some games, we haven’t panicked. If it was something that we were getting blown out at a lot of places, then we would change some things. It’s not about the last play, it’s about making plays throughout the game somewhere, where the last play is not magnified.”