How It Happened: LSU Basketball Falls 75-72 in SEC Thriller to Texas A&M Aggies

BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION, Texas – The LSU Tigers, playing without starting point guard Dedan Thomas Jr., battled down to the wire before falling to Texas A&M Saturday at Reed Arena by a score of 75-72.

The Tigers are 12-2 overall and 0-1 in the league, while A&M is now 11-3 and 1-0 in the league.

Thomas, who leads the team in points scored and the league in assists average, missed the game with what was described by LSU Coach Matt McMahon as a lower (left) leg injury. His return to play was not known on Saturday, pending the team’s return to Baton Rouge.

But the Tigers, with freshman Jalen Reece at the point, were determined to show that they could play on the big stage on the road and battled the Aggies and new coach Bucky McMillian’s “Bucky Ball” system of play that features different presses and fast-paced offense all the way to the very end. The Tigers were able to get the pace to their liking for a good portion of the game and remained in contention for most of the contest.

Reece would finish with four points, a season high seven assists and one steal with three turnovers in 36 minutes of play. Max Mackinnon combined with Reece for 12 assists total as he had five assists, two steals and two turnovers in 38 minutes of action.

It was Mackinnon and Mike Nwoko that drove the Tigers offense for most of the game with Nwoko again showing his ability for the Tigers hitting both 7-of-10 field goals and free throws to finish with 21 points, while Mackinnon hit four treys in posting 20 points.

Rashad King, who moved into the backup point guard spot and played with Reece on the floor together at times was the other double figure scorer with 10 for LSU, hitting two three-pointers.

The Tigers were in the thick of the contest right before halftime up three when A&M’s Rylan Griffen hit a three with 42 seconds left to tie the game and then after an LSU miss, Ruben Dominguez hit a distance three with four seconds to play before halftime to give the Aggies a 37-34 advantage after 20 minutes.

The Aggies had made only two three-pointers in the first 19 minutes of the first half before those two baskets.

In the first two minutes of the second half, Nwoko would tie the game at 39-39 on an alley oop pass from Reece.

But A&M would extend the lead to 10 on three occasions, the last at 62-52 with 8:53 to play. However, LSU was not going to let the lead get any more as King hit a three, Reece an in the paint bucket and Mackinnon a distance shot to cut the lead for A&M to 62-60, forcing an Aggie timeout with 6:59 to go in the game.

The Aggies made 1-of-2 free throws and on the other end Robert Miller III got a layup to bring the Tigers within one, 63-62. A&M missed a three-pointer and Miller hit a little hook shot in the lane to give LSU the lead 64-63 with 5:33 to play.

LSU had a nice opportunity to advance the lead off two steals of the A&M offense but neither could be converted as the Tigers missed three-point opportunities. A&M missed again and LSU had another chance to extend the lead but couldn’t convert on offense.

On A&M’s next possession, after a couple of offensive rebounds, Rashaun Agee was fouled and made 1-of-2 free throws to tie the game at 64-64 with 3:17 to play.

But here came the Tigers again and it was Pablo Tamba who gave LSU the lead back at 66-64 with 2:57 to play. A&M would tie the game at 66-66 on its next possession.

The A&M press finally caught up with LSU as they turned the ball over on three straight possessions giving the Aggies the chance to go up 69-66 with 1:58 to go.

The teams traded buckets to make it 71-68 with 25 seconds left. King made two free throws with 11 seconds left to make the Aggie lead, 71-70. Free throws and an LSU turnover pushed the game to 74-70 with just 4.2 seconds to play.

However, Nwoko was fouled with no time running off the clock, making two free throws to make it 74-72. The Tigers fouled on the inbounds, leaving 3.7 on the clock and A&M gave LSU a final shot, making only the second free throw. Mazi Mosley, who came into the game on the final possession to offer another long-range shooter, took a shot from outside the arc on the right side, but it came up off the mark at the buzzer.

Agee led the Aggies four double figure scorers with 15 points, while Dominguez had 13, Ali Dibbs 12 and Pop Isaacs 11.

LSU shot 46.3 percent for the game, 25-of-54, with six made three-pointers and 16-of-20 at the free throw line. A&M was held to 41.9 percent overall shooting (26-of-62), with eight made three-pointers and 15-of-21 from the stripe.

LSU was out rebounded 38-30 for the game, 15-7 on the offensive boards. Tamba had another double figure rebound night with 11.

Both teams had 36 points in the paint, with LSU equaling its season high in turnovers with 16. A&M had 15 and the Aggies had a 16-10 advantage in points off turnovers.

LSU has its home SEC opener on Tuesday night at 6 p.m. against South Carolina in a game televised on ESPNU and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network.

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