AUSTIN, Texas – The Texas Longhorns held off a strong second half rally by LSU to score an 88-85 victory over the Tigers Tuesday night in an SEC men’s basketball game at the Moody Center.
The Tigers rallied from a 15-point halftime deficit after the Longhorns made 6-of-9 first half three-pointers with all six makes coming in the final nine minutes including three straight which got Texas a 48-33 advantage.
LSU was even with the Longhorns for the first 11 minutes of the first half, never trailing until 19-17 when the Longhorns took the lead for the remainder of the first half.
The Tigers were able to get inside for many opportunities but finished the half just 4-of-16 on layups and dunks, having to settle for several contested and off-balance attempts near the goal.
Texas, after making their first three-pointer of the second half, began to cool off and the LSU offense began to connect, cutting the Longhorn lead to 59-53, with 13:02 left as the Longhorns were forced to call a timeout. LSU used a 12-0 run to get back in the game after being down as much as 17 in the final 90 seconds of the first half.
The Longhorns turned the ball over on its next possession and Max Mackinnon drove the lane and scored to cut it to 59-55 with 12:36 to play.
LSU would stay within four points on three more occasions as the game headed inside nine minutes.
But rebounds and free throws proved to be too much for LSU to keep up with as LSU put Texas into the bonus early and the Longhorns made 15-of-24 second half free throws and Texas had a 15-4 advantage in second half points.
The Tigers, however, as they did at Tennessee began showing their muscle as Max Mackinnon scored 21 second half points (27 for the game) as he returned to action after missing the Tennessee game and played 33 minutes off the bench.
Mackinnon would finish 11-of-17 from the field with two three-pointers and 3-of-4 at the free throw line.
The Tigers, shooting 63.3 percent from the field, continued to pressure the Longhorns making 19-of-30 field goal attempts, four three-pointers and 10-of-13 from the free throw line.
Jalen Reece hit two free throws to get LSU as close it had been since midway in the first half, down three, at 85-82 with 1:39 to play. Texas missed two free throws and the Tigers came down with a chance to get within one or possibly tie, but LSU missed a jump shot in the lane and Texas rebounded and held off the Tigers in the final minute.
Marquel Sutton had his fifth straight double figure game in SEC play with 21 points, hitting 6-of-10 with a trey and 8-of-8 at the free throw line. Mike Nwoko had 15 points and Jalen Reece continued to show his increasing maturity on the floor with 14 points and a season high nine assists, the third game this season he has had at least seven assists in an SEC game.
Dailyn Swain led Texas with 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Jordan Pope hit all three first-half three-point attempts and scored 18 as did Tramon Mark. Matas Vokietaitis had 17 points and 10 boards.
Texas shot 63 percent overall in the first half and for the game finished at 55.8 percent, 29-of-52. After making their first attempt of the second half, Texas was 0-of-3 the rest of the game and finished 7-of-13 from distance for 53.8 percent. For the game, Texas was 23-of-34 at the line for 67.6 percent.
LSU also finished the game over 51 percent at 51.6 percent with five three pointers (5-of-12, 41.7 percent) and 16-of-19 at the line for 84.2 percent.
Both teams scored almost the game in the paint with Texas getting 38 and LSU 36.
Again impressively, following the record tying low three turnovers against Tennessee on Saturday, LSU turned the ball over only five times against the Longhorns.
LSU will host Alabama in its next game, Saturday at 5 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU vs Texas
February 17, 2026
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon On The LSU Sports Radio Network
Opening Statement…
“I thought in the first half, we did a good job of curling screens. They were really trying to run us off the three-point line and funnel us into the paint and we did a poor job. We took some one-legged, off-balance shots that we weren’t able to finish. I thought the guys did a good job at making the correction there at the half. We played off two feet. We did a much better job finishing, shooting 63% in the second half and scored 52 points. That should be enough to win on the road. Unfortunately, we had that stretch for three minutes in the first half where we lost (Tramon) Mark, he hit two big threes. We had a turnover that led to another transition three and they were able to stretch their lead in that segment.”
On LSU’s second half run…
“I thought we were able to mix our looks. Jalen Reece did a fantastic job. He had nine assists and only one turnover. He orchestrated the offense. Mike (Nwoko) was really good with his screening. That opened him up to score more efficiently. Max’s (Mackinnon) movement without the ball, whether it was off the ball screen actions in the middle third or some of our baseline runners where we were setting pin downs for him, was able to be really effective especially in the second half.”