By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
It was the least congratulated 10-point halftime lead, perhaps in LSU basketball history.
Downtrodden LSU, which entered the game 0-4 in the Southeastern Conference, outmuscled Missouri, which came in at 3-1 in the league, to lead by 10 or more for most of the first half Saturday afternoon, including over the last 2:46 when LSU took 11- or 12-point leads seven times.
But the Pete Maravich Assembly Center crowd of 7,816 was not exactly going wild at the break. It was as if LSU fans were saying, “Yeah, been there, done that.”
LSU’s CINDERELLA 1986 FINAL FOUR TEAM HOLDS 40-YEAR REUNION
The Tigers had just led Kentucky, 38-22, at the half on Wednesday and by nine with 6:34 to play, but eventually blew it in an exasperating 75-74 loss at the buzzer on a two-point jumper near the foul line by Malachi Moreno.
“Heartbreaking end.”
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 15, 2026
-LSU coach Matt McMahon after 75-74 loss to Kentucky.https://t.co/eGAz9VBMmW
And LSU led Missouri by as many as 14 at 45-31 with 16:44 to go, but eventually it let that dwindle to 55-52 with 8:49 to go. Was it happening again?
LSU went back up by 10 at 69-59 with 4:56 to go, but Missouri crawled back to within 74-70 with 56 seconds to play. Not again?
Then LSU forward Pablo Tamba drew a foul on an offensive rebound with 26.6 seconds left. It was Tamba who missed two free throws with 1.4 seconds to go against Kentucky and LSU up 74-73. With both free throws, he could have forced Moreno or another Kentucky player to take a three-pointer just for overtime. One free throw, and the worst LSU could’ve done was overtime or a loss on a three-pointer.
This time, Tamba made both for a 76-70 lead. Still plenty of time for a choke, though. But Tamba made up for his Wednesday again by deflecting a pass from Kentucky’s T.O. Barrett near in LSU’s lane and LSU’s Marquel Sutton came up with the loose ball. He drew a foul in the process with 16 seconds to go. And he made both free throws for a 78-70 lead.
“Pablo’s a winner. He works,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “He’s always in the gym. We talked through some things there. I’ve got great confidence in him. He guards every position on the floor. The winning play he made there on the deflection and sealed the game. Credit to him for his response.”
Barrett turned it over again, and Missouri never got another shot off.
And LSU had its first SEC win and moved beyond what could’ve been a soul destroying loss to Kentucky.
“It feels amazing to get our first SEC win,” said Sutton, who scored a game-high 26 points with all six of his rebounds in the second half. “How we bounced back. We were composed. We didn’t let that game (against Kentucky) impact us. We could’ve folded, still worrying about the last game. We didn’t get discouraged when they made their run.”
McMahon echoed that.
“Can’t tell you how proud I am of our team, coming off the heartbreaking game earlier this week,” he said. “And I think lesser men would’ve folded up shop. Our guys really responded the right way. I’ve told you from day one we have great people in our locker room. They’re really a connected group, and I thought you saw that on full display. Not only today in those 40 minutes, but in those last 48 hours.”
And LSU did it without star point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., who missed his fifth straight SEC game with a lower leg injury. Senior guard Rashad King helped replace Thomas’ strong suit – penetration. King drove the lane and launched a high arching, leaping leaner that swished for a 74-68 lead with 1:07 to play that did get the crowd going.
“Rashad King made some big shots for us late in the shot clock,” McMahon said.
King finished with seven points, four assists and but one turnover in 29 minutes. Freshman guard Jalen Reece also helped replace Thomas (16.2 points, 7.0 assists a game) by committee with seven points, three assists and only two turnovers in 19 minutes off the bench.
“Everyone’s been stepping up with D.J. out,” said guard Max Mackinnon, who scored 20 points with three rebounds and two assists with just one turnover.
Tamba had eight points and five rebounds with an assist, only one turnover and that steal. Center Mike Nwoko scored six points with eight rebounds, a block, one assist and one turnover in 12 minutes because of early foul trouble.
LSU had an SEC season-low seven turnovers after coming in averaging 14. The Tigers suffered two turnovers and missed four free throws in the last five minutes against Kentucky.
“We learned from our mistakes against Kentucky down the stretch,” Sutton said.
“Just the way the game ended the other night is the challenge,” McMahon said. “You put everything you have into it. You want to get the result that you desire. And to not finish the game in that fashion is gut wrenching. And so, just like anything else in life, what it comes down to is how are you going to respond?”
It was hard to remember, but LSU played well against Kentucky and improved in spots throughout the 0-for-4 SEC run.
“No one wants to hear this part, but we got better this week,” McMahon said. “Our team improved. We didn’t get the result we wanted in our last game, but we got a lot better. And you saw that today. We’ve been turning the ball over too much. We won the turnover battle for the first time in league play (by five).”
LSU outrebounded Missouri, 35-30, and had 16 offensive rebounds.
“We won the glass,” McMahon said. “We controlled the tempo.”
Still, McMahon understood the consternation of LSU fans when Missouri drew within three and four in the final minutes.
“The way the game finished in the second half the other night, it’s just human nature, “he said. “You’re thinking, ‘Here we go again. We had a 10-point lead. It’s down to three.’ How are you going to respond in that situation? We were able to shrink the game down the stretch. Credit the offensive rebounding, not turning the ball over. Guys did a good job using their timeouts when they got in trouble. You saw the experience of Marquel and Rashad step up in big moments.”
Now, LSU (13-5, 1-4 SEC) is off to play No. 19 and defending national champion Florida (13-5, 4-1 SEC), which won 98-94 on Saturday at No. 10 Vanderbilt, on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN2).
“We have to keep the momentum going against Florida,” Mackinnon said.
“We have to keep getting better,” McMahon said. “We found out character gets revealed in some challenging times. And our guys responded in great fashion. Really neat for me as a coach to see them all huddled up around Max for the postgame interview on SEC Network. It’s really a close-knit group. I’m not surprised at all by their response today. I knew they’d be locked in and ready to go. Now, we’ve got to keep building. We’ve got to get a lot better and keep improving.”
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