LSU Falls Flat at Home in 80-66 Loss to Mississippi State
Coming off back-to-back road losses to ranked opponents, LSU returned to Baton Rouge looking for a reset. Instead, they walked into a buzzsaw. Mississippi State rolled into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and left with a convincing 80-66 win, handing LSU its third straight loss and continuing a downward spiral in SEC play.
From the opening tip, it was clear who wanted it more. Mississippi State came out with energy and urgency, jumping out to a 13-3 lead just three minutes in and never looking back.
LSU never led, never tied, and never truly threatened. The Bulldogs dictated the pace, controlled the glass, and set the tone physically.
“They were the aggressor,” LSU head coach Matt McMahon said postgame. “Two teams desperate for a win, and they played with a sense of urgency that we were unable to match.”
A Rough Start That Set the Tone
The Tigers’ start was one of their worst of the season - and that’s saying something. They trailed 27-9 less than nine minutes into the game and went into the locker room down 44-21. That 23-point halftime deficit marked their lowest-scoring first half of the season.
Much of the early damage came on the boards. In the first three minutes alone, Mississippi State grabbed four offensive rebounds, setting the tone for a physical night. By halftime, the Bulldogs had a 26-14 rebounding edge.
A key factor in LSU’s struggles on the glass was the defensive assignment of Pablo Tamba. Typically the Tigers’ best rebounder in SEC play, Tamba was tasked with guarding Mississippi State’s perimeter star Josh Hubbard - a 6-foot scoring machine who leads the conference in points per game and 3-pointers made. That decision pulled Tamba away from the paint, and LSU paid for it.
When the rebounding disparity became too much, McMahon shifted 6-foot-9 Marquel Sutton onto Hubbard. But it didn’t slow the Bulldogs down. Mississippi State’s ball movement and off-ball activity consistently beat LSU to spots, and the Tigers couldn’t keep up.
Mississippi State’s Balanced Attack
Mississippi State didn’t rely on one hot hand - they came at LSU in waves. Six different Bulldogs hit a three in the first half as the team went 7-of-14 from deep. Hubbard, who torched LSU in two games last year, capped the half with a contested step-back triple.
Center Quincy Ballard was a perfect 4-of-4 from the field in the first half, leading the team with nine points. Five other Bulldogs chipped in at least four points before halftime. It wasn’t just that Mississippi State was hitting shots - it was that they were getting the looks they wanted, when they wanted them.
LSU’s defense was late on rotations, soft on closeouts, and overwhelmed physically. McMahon pointed to the Bulldogs’ three-point shooting and physicality as key reasons for the early hole.
“If you're going to get down like that, be able to come back, you’ve got to convert offensively, get out in transition, knock down some 3s,” McMahon said. “To finish the first half, we had seven consecutive stops, and during that stretch we only cut the lead by two points because we couldn’t score.”
Offensive Woes Compound the Problem
While the defense struggled, the offense didn’t offer any lifeline. LSU shot just 9-of-28 from the field and 1-of-10 from three in the first half. The Tigers also left points at the line, going 2-of-8 from the stripe before the break.
Point guard Dedan Thomas tried to create, but Mississippi State sent extra pressure his way, forcing him to give up the ball early. He finished the first half with seven points on 3-of-7 shooting, but couldn’t get into a rhythm.
The rest of the offense didn’t fare much better. Mike Nwoko, facing his former team, scored early inside but finished with just four points and one rebound in 17 minutes.
Sutton was 0-of-5 from the field and missed all four of his three-point attempts. Omaha transfer Max Mackinnon had just two points at halftime.
The frustration in the building boiled over late in the first half. A pair of missed free throws by Tamba with LSU trailing 44-17 drew boos from the home crowd. When the halftime buzzer sounded, the jeers grew louder.
Second-Half Spark Comes Too Late
McMahon made changes to start the second half, inserting Jalen Reece and Robert Miller in place of Sutton and Nwoko. The Tigers showed life with a 6-0 run sparked by threes from Thomas and Mackinnon, cutting the deficit to 18.
But momentum was short-lived. After a review, Miller was assessed a flagrant 1 foul for hitting Hubbard in the face following a missed layup. That gave the Bulldogs two free throws and the ball, halting LSU’s mini-run.
To their credit, the Tigers did fight in the second half. Mackinnon poured in 13 points after the break, and LSU outscored Mississippi State 45-36 in the final 20 minutes.
But the damage had long been done. The closest LSU got was within 16 points with just under 13 minutes to play.
Looking Ahead
The loss drops LSU to 13-8 overall and a rough 1-7 in SEC play. The Tigers have struggled to find consistency on either end of the floor in conference action, and Wednesday’s performance only deepened the concerns.
Next up: a road trip to face South Carolina on Saturday. If LSU wants to stop the slide, they’ll need to bring a lot more urgency - and a lot more fight - than they showed in their return home.