TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The LSU Tigers made a late rally but couldn’t quite get over the hump, dropping an 89-87 exhibition basketball decision to the Florida State Seminoles Saturday at the Tucker Civic Center.
LSU rallied from a 14-point deficit with 13:42 to play in the game before tying the game at 73-73 with 3:17 to play.
FSU was able to get a 79-73 advantage with 2:06 to play, but Donovan Dent made two free throws and after a Seminole miss, Skyy Clark, who had seven made threes in the game, hit one from the corner to make the FSU lead just one, 79-78, with 1:30 to play.
The Seminoles were able to get points at the line and built an 85-78 advantage with 50 seconds to play, but as time wound down, Clark would hit two more threes and Dent added a bucket to make it 88-86 with seven seconds to play.
FSU made one free throw and then began fouling LSU with fouls to give. The second time they tried it, the referees ruled it an intentional foul, giving LSU two free throws and the ball with just over two seconds to play.
LSU made one-of-the-two to make it 89-87, but LSU was unable to do anything on the inbounds to close the final margin.
Dent finished the game with 24 points and nine assists, while Clark had 21 points and three assists. Abdi Bashir Jr. scored 13 points.
Abaev Shon had 26 points with five treys to lead LSU, with Kameron Taylor adding 16, Sebastian Rancik 13 and Elisee Assui 11 for the Seminoles.
For the game LSU shot 50 percent overall (32-of-64) and 15-of-35 from distance (42.9%). LSU made eight of 15 free throw attempts (53.3 percent). Florida State made 42.3% of their attempts in the fast-paced game (32-of-74) with 11 made three-pointers and 14-of-17 from the line.
Florida State had a big advantage in points off turnovers (17-8) and second chance points (19-7) including 12-0 in the first half when the Noles were able to get several points off offensive rebounds.
In all, LSU played eight players with Saliou Niang, Brice Dessert and Clark all getting starts in their first exhibition action with the Tigers.
The Tigers will open the 2027 regular season on Nov. 3 against LSU New Orleans at 7 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.