The words free and charity did not describe the one shot the MSU men’s basketball team needed Wednesday night in Baton Rouge. The Bulldogs were just 7-15 from the free-throw line in the second half–and blew a 16-point lead to lose 68-65 in overtime to the LSU Tigers. “That is a lot of free throws in one half,” MSU head coach Rick Stansbury said. “You have to step up to that line and make those free throws in those situations. It makes it very tough when you don’t.”
MSU took a 37-22 lead into the locker room against the Tigers, and came out quickly and pushed the lead to 16. But LSU quickly got hot from the field and cut the Bulldog lead. MSU opened the game early and used hot shooting and tight defense to build their lead. The Bulldogs connected on 52 percent of their shots from the field including 3-4 from behind the 3-point arc. The Tigers, held in check by great defense, were just 9-25 from the field including 1-8 from 3-point range.
After trailing for much of the game, LSU, behind a career night from Antonio Hudson, finally regained the lead with just over five minutes to play. The two teams battled down to the wire and finished regulation tied at 62.
In the extra period, neither team could score in the first two minutes until Hudson capped his career high to put the Tigers ahead for good. Derrick Zimmerman made one-of-two free throws, and the Tigers quickly answered to extend their lead to 66-63. Marckell Patterson would pull the Bulldogs to within one at 66-65 with just 30 seconds to play. After LSU stole the ball under the MSU basket, Patterson quickly answered with a steal. But on his way out of bounds Patterson asked for a time-out, and MSU was out. The Tigers’ Torris Bright missed both technical foul shots to keep MSU hopes alive. But the Bulldogs were unable to get the inbound pass in, and LSU knocked down two more free throws to ice their third SEC victory. LSU was led by Hudson with 23 points including 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Mississippi native Ronald Dupree added 13 points while Jermaine Williams and Bright each chipped in 10.
The Bulldogs were led by sophomores Timmy Bowers and Mario Austin with 17 points apiece. Bowers connected on 5 of 7 three-point attempts, but was the only Bulldog to make a three. Patterson added 16 points and Zimmerman helped out with 10 to round out the MSU double figure scores. MSU dropped to 18-7 and 5-6 in the SEC while the Tigers improved their record to 13-11 and 3-8 in the SEC.
MSU will be back in action trying to get back to .500 in the SEC on Saturday when the Tigers of Auburn come to Starkville. The Tigers are 11-11 and 3-8 in the SEC and are led by Marquis Daniels with 12 points per contest. Derrick Bird and Brandon Robinson chip in 11.5 and 10.2 per game respectively. The Tigers rank last in the SEC in scoring average at just over 67 points per game, but are in the top third in opponent scoring average giving up just 65 points per contest. Auburn does lead the SEC in blocked shots averaging 5.6 per game, led by Kyle Davis with 3.2 per game.
Auburn will come to Starkville after consecutive victories over Georgia and Ole Miss. The tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at The Hump.