By TODD HORNE, EXECUTIVE EDITOR
The final seconds unfolded like a slow-motion nightmare for Matt McMahon and the LSU Tigers.
With 1.4 seconds remaining and the Pete Maravich Assembly Center still buzzing from a hard-fought battle, Pablo Tamba stepped to the free-throw line after drawing a shooting foul.
LSU led 74-73.
One make would have pushed the margin to two, forcing Kentucky into a deeper, more difficult heave or a desperate foul attempt. Tamba, however, had struggled from the stripe all evening, and both attempts clanged off the iron—first short, then long—leaving the score frozen and the ball in Kentucky’s hands under their own basket.
Coach Matt McMahon, pacing the sideline with calculated intensity, had prepped his team for exactly this scenario.
In his postgame radio interview, he broke down the strategy with unflinching honesty:
“In a perfect world, you make both there and now it’s a three-point game… You’re up three, game done. You know that you can foul them, and then they’re not going to do anything. Going one for two… Pablo had a tough night behind the line. We wanted to get the miss there so we could set our deep [defense]. We knew they had the timeout. Now they can’t run the baseline. It’s a spot throw.”
The plan was deliberate: position defenders to force the inbound to stay in front—no easy lob over the top, no baseline run after the timeout.
McMahon wanted his players to contest any catch-and-shoot from deep or a drive, turning the full-court desperation play into a low-percentage prayer.
“We wanted to make them catch everything in front of us,” he said. “And they got it over the top there.”
Kentucky’s Collin Chandler, positioned as the inbounder, rifled a perfect baseball pass the length of the floor. The ball sailed high and arced over LSU’s outstretched hands—missing the fingertips of multiple defenders, including Robert Miller III, who had been a defensive force all night with blocks, rebounds, and multiple-effort plays.
Miller lunged desperately; McMahon later lamented how close it was: “Robert Miller bless his heart… Played a great game tonight. Had three offensive rebounds and kept you alive… It just kind of went over his head. He probably missed it a half inch or a quarter of an inch of tipping the ball, then the game would have been over.”
The pass found freshman Malachi Moreno streaking up the right side. Moreno caught it in rhythm just inside the arc, rose quickly, and released a smooth mid-range jumper.
The ball kissed the net as the red light flashed and the buzzer blared.
Officials immediately huddled at midcourt, reviewing the replay frame by frame to confirm the release beat the clock.
After what felt like an eternity, they signaled good—no violation.
Kentucky 75, LSU 74.
The Maravich Center fell into stunned silence as the Kentucky bench erupted and the Wildcats mobbed Moreno at center court.
Another lead, another dominant stretch, another chance to end the SEC winless streak—gone in an instant, decided by a half-inch of fingertips and a single reviewed shot.
For McMahon, now in his fourth year at LSU, the defeat wasn’t just a basketball game gone wrong. It was a microcosm of a program teetering on the edge, amplified by the stark ultimatum delivered earlier this week by new athletic director Verge Ausberry. In a candid interview with The Advocate published on January 13, Ausberry laid out the expectations plainly: Reach the NCAA Tournament this season, or “we’ll have to reevaluate.”
He praised McMahon’s character —“I speak with him after every game, like and respect him”—but emphasized the bottom line in the high-stakes world of big-time college hoops. “We’re all grownups here,” Ausberry said. “Matt’s a grownup. He understands how the business works. He understands that LSU basketball has to be successful.”
On Wednesday night, success felt tantalizingly close.
The Tigers, desperate for their first SEC win after starting 0-3 in league play, dominated the first half against a Kentucky team riddled with injuries and clinging to NCAA bubble hopes.
LSU built a 38-22 halftime lead, shooting 50% from the field and holding the Wildcats to a dismal 8-of-29 (27.6%) clip.
Marquel Sutton set the tone early, scoring the Tigers’ first points with a pair of 3-pointers and a dunk, finishing with 16 points and six rebounds.
Rashad King, making his first start as a Tiger and fourth of his career, added 12 points on efficient shooting.
Five Tigers reached double figures, the team attempted 28 free throws (making 19), and they outrebounded Kentucky 35-28.
“We had probably our two best practices of the year on Monday and Tuesday,” McMahon said.
“Guys’ defensive effort was phenomenal. We had our defense really tight and compact.”
But Kentucky refused to fold.
The Wildcats unleashed a second-half inferno—53 points in 20 minutes—powered by Otega Oweh’s 22 points (including multiple 3s and clutch scoring), Denzel Aberdeen’s 17 (efficient perimeter work and free throws), and Collin Chandler’s timely assists and buckets. The Wildcats hit 8-of-11 from beyond the arc after the break, turning LSU turnovers into transition dunks and layups.
For LSU, the numbers told one story: strong rebounding, aggressive drives, multiple leads in the 70s. For McMahon, the narrative told another: if not for injuries (star guard Dedan Thomas Jr. sidelined since early January, Jalen Reed out for the season), if not for missed free throws, if not for one reviewed jumper at the buzzer, perhaps the luck that has eluded him all season would finally arrive.
The loss dropped LSU to 12-5 overall and 0-4 in the SEC, their worst conference start since 2012-13.
With a brutal schedule ahead—including Saturday’s home tilt against a strong Missouri team—McMahon’s seat grows hotter.
Ausberry’s comments, coming amid a 5-34 SEC record over the past three seasons (excluding one NIT appearance), underscore the urgency.
The AD acknowledged the “tough breaks” from injuries but framed it as business: Success or reevaluation.
“Don’t beat yourself up, man, because you haven’t played well enough to win the game,” former LSU basketball coach John Brady (the interviewer) told McMahon, who responded with pride in his team’s effort.
“Really proud of our players… They did a lot of great things, not only tonight, but the two days leading up to it. We’ve got to find a way to respond and be ready to go here on Saturday.”
For Kentucky (11-6, 2-2 SEC), the win was a lifeline and a signature road triumph.
Coach Mark Pope’s squad, missing Jayden Quaintance and Jaland Lowe to season-ending injuries, leaned on depth and heart: Andrija Jelavic added 11 points and five rebounds, Chandler nine with key assists, and Moreno eight points alongside eight rebounds and a block before his heroics.
“This is what SEC basketball is about—fight, heart, and big moments,” Pope said postgame.
But in Baton Rouge, the narrative is one of what-ifs.
What if Thomas Jr. hadn’t gotten hurt?
What if Tamba hits one more free throw?
What if Miller tips that pass?
McMahon, a coach known for his steady demeanor and player development, now faces the harsh reality Ausberry outlined: Deliver an NCAA berth, or risk the end of his LSU tenure.
As the Tigers lick their wounds, Saturday’s game looms as a pivotal test. In a season where bad luck seems to shadow every step, McMahon and LSU need a breakthrough—before the reevaluation becomes inevitable.
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