LSU Men's Basketball Falls to Mississippi State In Opening Round of SEC Tournament

The Tigers did a pretty good job hanging around with the Bulldogs in the early stages of the game. At the 10-minute mark of the first half, the Tigers trailed by just two points. Cam Carter led the effort early with seven points in the first 10 minutes.

The backend of the first half didn't go as well for LSU. After leading 21-19 at the 10-minute mark, Mississippi State went on a 23-5 run the end the half and take a 44-24 lead into the locker room. Josh Hubbard went off, scoring 16 points on 6-for-14 shooting in the first half to help give the Bulldogs their big advantage. LSU didn't hit a single field goal during that span with all of their points coming from the free throw line.

Much like the first half, the Tigers got off to a good start in the second, cutting the Bulldogs advantage to 12 at one point, but just like before, the Bulldogs turned things around and got rolling again and led by 24 at the 10-minute mark of the second half.

The rest of the game was smooth sailing for Mississippi State, who went on to win, 91-62.

Jordan Sears led the way offensively for the Tigers with 20 points. Cam Carter and Robert Miller also contributed 13 and 14 points respectively. Nobody else on the team had more than seven in the loss.

Josh Hubbard led all scorers with 26 points on 9-for-19 shooting from the field and 6-for-12 from three tonight. He was the catalyst for Mississippi State's offense and completely dominated to help them advance.

LSU will now hope to receive an invite to the NIT. They received one last year, but lost to North Texas in the first round on their home floor.