LSU Plays Well On The Road Again, But Loses To Auburn

By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU played hard, stayed close for a while, and in the end wilted and fell, 88-74, at Auburn on Tuesday night in Auburn, Alabama.

The Tigers dropped to 15-15 overall and 3-14 in the Southeastern Conference to a team that had lost seven of its last eight games. Auburn (16-14, 7-10 SEC) gradually built a 41-34 halftime lead into a 10-point advantage in the second half, then pulled away.

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

LSU led 23-19 with 7:48 to play in the first half, but Auburn closed strong for the seven-point halftime lead, and the Tigers never drew closer than that in the second half.

Center Mike Nwoko led the Tigers with 19 points and had five rebounds. Forward Pablo Tamba added 12 points with nine rebounds, four assists and four steals. Point guard Jalen Reece scored 12 points wiht six assists, but committed five turnovers. Forward Marquel Sutton scored 10 points with six rebounds.

LSU shot 55 percent from the field (24 of 44) and 7 of 15 from three-point range for 47 percent and tied Auburn in rebounds, 27-27. But the Tigers couldn’t overcome 16 turnovers and struggled to defend Auburn’s Tahaad Pettiford, who scored 27 on 10-of-16 shooting, including 4 of 7 from three-point range and had six assists and four steals. Kevin Overton added 21 points with 4-of-6 shooting from long range.

“The way we shot the ball and rebounded, you would hope that would be good enough to win,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “But the turnovers that led to transition threes hurt us. In the second half, we couldn’t stop them. They whipped us.”

There were an incredible 13 lead changes in the first half and five ties at 9-9, 12-12, 24-24, 27-27 and 29-29. LSU shot 54 percent in the first half (13 of 24), including 3 of 8 from three-point range, and outrebounded Auburn, 16-12, but suffered 11 turnovers.

Auburn’s pesky defense pressured LSU into most of the miscues and completely took guard Max Mackinnon out of his game. Mackinnon took only three shots in the first half, making one three-pointer out of two tries for three points. He finished with three points on 1-of-6 shooting and made 1 of 3 from long range. Mackinnon came in averaging 15 points a game.

Nwoko was the only Tiger in double figures in the first half with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, and he hit all five of his free throws.

LSU concludes the regular season at home against Texas A&M (20-10, 10-7 SEC) on Saturday (5 p.m., SEC Network). The Aggies beat Kentucky, 96-85, in College Station on Tuesday. The Tigers will then move on to the SEC Tournament in Nashville, beginning Wednesday.