STARKVILLE, Miss. — Jordan Mickey poured in a SEC career-high tying 25 points and hauled down a career-best 20 rebounds, but the LSU men’s basketball team was dealt a 73-67 setback at Mississippi State on Saturday afternoon at Humphrey Coliseum.
Mickey became the first LSU player to have at least 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game since Geert Hammink had a 20/20 performance against Campbell on Dec. 16, 1992. The last LSU player to secure at least 20 rebounds in a game was Jaime Lloreda who had 21 boards versus McNeese State on Nov. 24, 2003.
For Mickey, it was his 12th double-double on the season. He was 11-of-18 from the floor and knocked down seven of his 10 attempts during the second half.
LSU (16-5, 5-3 SEC) had its overall three-game winning streak and run of four straight victories against Mississippi State (10-11, 3-5 SEC) come to a close.
Keith Hornsby tallied 15 points aided by a trio of three-pointers, while Josh Gray came away with 13 points. Hornsby has reached double figures in four consecutive games and five of his last six efforts.
Jarell Martin and Tim Quarterman were limited to season-lows with four points apiece and were held to a combined 2-for-16 shooting.
As a team, LSU was 26-of-69 shooting and misfired on 19 of its 23 attempts from three-point territory. The Tigers also mustered an 11-for-21 effort at the free throw line.
MSU had four players collect double figures led by Fred Thomas who secured 13 of his 18 points during the second half. Craig Sword contributed 14 points, five rebounds and five assists for the Bulldogs.
LSU started with a 5-for-25 shooting clip which enabled the Bulldogs to jump out to a 23-16 advantage on a Sword trey with 5:41 to go.
The Tigers fired back with eight straight points ignited by back-to-back baskets from Mickey. He fought through traffic and hit a putback layup followed by a midrange jumper. Aaron Epps added two second-chance baskets to give LSU a 24-23 edge with 2:07 left.
Mississippi State responded to close the half with eight of the last 12 points to take a 31-28 lead into the locker room.
The Tigers used a Hornsby three-ball, a Gray jumper and a Mickey free throw to notch the first six points of the second half to take a 34-31 edge at the 18:41 mark.
Neither team could break away or hold more than a 4-point lead in the back-and-forth second half. LSU grabbed a 57-54 advantage on Martin’s first points with 4:16 remaining.
Mississippi State put together an 11-2 spurt and drained its final five field goals to turn the score in its favor at 65-59 with 36 seconds to go. The Bulldogs also knocked down all eight of free throws inside the last 26 seconds to finish off the four-point victory.
LSU embarks on a stretch of three home games over a six-day span and welcomes Auburn to the Maravich Center on Thursday evening. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m., and the game will be televised by ESPN2 along with www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game on its flagship station Eagle 98.1 FM in the Baton Rouge area and for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live. Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and Kevin Ford will call the action.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net/basketball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets atwww.Facebook.com/lsubasketball along with @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJones on Twitter and @LSUBasketball on Instagram.