By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
So much for that easier part of the schedule coming up for the LSU basketball team.
LSU Basketball has a chance now to make a run over next 3 or 4 games:https://t.co/yewxKtsjWM
— Glenn Guilbeau (@SportBeatTweet) January 28, 2026
The Tigers have met the soft part of the schedule, and it is them.
Mississippi State, one of the worst teams in the Southeastern Conference with five straight losses with four of those by a 22-point average, found a way to win on Wednesday night. Because it played LSU and dominated the Tigers, 80-66, as if State was some kind of NCAA Tournament contender.
State (11-10, 3-5 SEC) dominated LSU (13-8, 1-7 SEC) inside with 43 rebounds to 24 and outside with 10-of-21 shooting from three-point range to 4 of 20 by LSU. And the Bulldogs were never threatened after taking a 10-point lead less than five minutes into the game before leading by 20 or 30 for most of the way.
“They were the aggressor, and they played with a sense of urgency that we were unable to match,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “The physicality on the glass clearly was a huge difference maker. We struggled to finish plays around the rim. Very disappointing performance. They took the fight to us. Before you know it, you’re down double figures from the jump.”
In front of a mausoleum crowd that had dwindled from 7,501 to a couple thousand by game’s end, LSU dropped to 1-7 in the SEC for the second consecutive season as an 89-58 home loss to an average Texas team last year at home on Feb. 1 put the Tigers at 12-9 and 1-7 in the SEC. That set up a 14-18 and 3-15 finish for McMahon’s second losing season in his first three years at LSU. A third appears very much on the way..
McMahon is obviously in serious trouble of not keeping his job in his fourth season as LSU athletic director Verge Ausberry already basically said early this month that McMahon needs to get the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament this season.
“One thing we want to do is make sure we’re in the NCAA Tournament,” Ausberry said. “We made that very clear to Matt at the beginning of the year – that’s where we need to be.”
It’s not happening.
“The focus for us has to be the short term,” McMahon said when asked about his team’s chances of reaching the NCAA Tournament Wednesday night. “How do we improve at the three-point line on both ends. And we’ve got to be able to score.”
LSU plays at South Carolina (11-9, 2-5 SEC, before Florida game Wednesday night) on Saturday. South Carolina already beat LSU in Baton Rouge this season, 78-68, on Jan. 6.
After trailing by 44-21 at the half and by 20 or more through most of the second half, the Tigers got within 17 at 78-61 with 5:21 to go on a pair of free throws by Marquel Sutton. But they couldn’t get back in the game.
LSU was limp on arrival as State took an 11-3 just over three minutes into the game on a short hook by Quincy Ballard, who had 13 points and nine rebounds. A Ballard lay-up seconds later put the Bulldogs up by 10 at 13-3. Less than 10 minutes later, Shawn Jones Jr. hit a three-pointer for a 20-point lead at 34-14.
The Tigers appeared dumbfounded as Josh Hubbard hit a three-point for a 42-17 lead with 5:10 left. He finished with 15. A Sergej Macura lay-up put State up by 37 for its biggest lead at 44-17 before the Tigers scratched within 44-21 at the half.
LSU shot just 9 of 28 from the field in the first half for 32 percent and missed 9 of 10 from three-point range. The Tigers finished 43 percent from the field and 4 of 20 from long range for 20 percent. Guard Max Mackinnon led LSU with 15 points, but he missed 4 of 5 from three point-range.
Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. and guard Rashad King each scored 14 points for LSU. Center Mike Nwoko, a transfer from Mississippi State, scored just four points in 16 minutes with one rebound.
“Honestly, I’m not too sure what happened,” Mackinnon said when asked how LSU could play so well in an 85-81 loss at No. 20 Arkansas on Saturday and so poorly on this night.
“Just didn’t work out tonight,” he said. “Watch the film and bounce back.”
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