Have You Noticed LSU Has Played Better On The Road Than At Home This Season?

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

The LSU men’s basketball team plays on the road Tuesday at Auburn, and that is good news.

Because the Tigers (15-14, 3-13 Southeastern Conference) are 1-7 at home in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in SEC games and 2-6 away with both wins in overtime at Ole Miss and South Carolina.

That’s just a game difference, and South Carolina (12-17) is tied for last in the SEC with LSU at 3-13 with Ole Miss near the bottom at 12-17 and 4-12. But look closer.

Of the seven home league losses, including Saturday by 83-67 to bottom feeder Oklahoma (15-14, 5-11 SEC), the Tigers have lost by 10 or more five times.

LSU’s Winning “Streak” Ends At 1 As It Falls To Oklahoma, 83-67

Of the six road losses, the Tigers were within four points or closer three times, and that was against better teams – 75-72 at Texas A&M (19-10, 9-7), 88-85 at Texas (18-11, 9-7) and 85-81 at Arkansas (21-8, 11-5), which is No. 20. A fifth road loss was by 10 at Tennessee (20-19, 10-6 SEC), which is ranked No. 23. And the Tigers were within four or five points three times over the last 4:48 in Knoxville.

The only ranked teams LSU has lost to at home were then-No. 16 Alabama by 90-83 on Feb. 21 and then No. 21 Arkansas by 91-62 on Feb. 10 – a 25-point differential between home and away.

So, LSU likely will have a better chance against Auburn (15-14, 6-10) in Auburn on Tuesday (9 p.m., SEC Network) than at the quiet Assembly Center, which tends to have all the noise of a wake.

LSU guard Max Mackinnon was asked about the struggles at home after the loss to Oklahoma – “Do you guys feel a difference in terms of how you play at home, compared to on the road?”

“It’s a tricky one,” he said. “We can’t let that dictate how we play home or away. But it’s tricky with the environment we’re in. There’s not many fans. Yeah, it’s tricky with an environment like that.”

LSU has been averaging roughly 5,000 fans a game in actual attendance for much of the league season because of the losses at home and on the road. Whereas the crowds at away games have been significantly larger at Arkansas, Tennessee, Texas and Texas A&M, which have apparently energized the Tigers.

Down the stretch of regulation and in 2 overtimes, Matt McMahon outcoached Ole Miss’ Chris Beard:https://t.co/mInV1XOUPJ

— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) February 26, 2026

“Yeah, it’s a very fair question,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “When you look at it, some of our better performances, our higher energy performances have certainly been on the road. You look at the win at Ole Miss. You look at how we played at South Carolina, at Tennessee, at Texas, at Arkansas. I don’t have the answer as to why that is. But I certainly understand the question. I see the same thing you’re seeing.”

And hearing, which is a lot of quiet.

McMahon has even tried to mimic LSU’s road routine at home, which is certainly a rarity in college basketball and in particular at the Assembly Center, which has been called the “Deaf Dome” during better times.

Now, it is more like the sounds of silence in the “Dead Zone,” where LSU finishes the regular season against Texas A&M on Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network).

“Just trying to figure out a way to play better here on our home court,” McMahon said.