Da Boot Sports 2/1/2022 By: Terrill J. Weil BATON ROUGE, LA: After dropping four of their last five games the 25th ranked LSU Tigers returned home to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday night hoping to turn things around and start the second half of the SEC schedule strong. But the visiting Ole Miss Rebels (11-10 overall & 2-6 in SEC play) had other plans as they were looking to bounce back from a poor start in SEC play, and that they did, stunning the Bayou Bengals with a 76-72 upset win. Ole Miss started fast, leading by as much as 24 points in the first half, then held off a LSU comeback in the second half with a huge night at the free throw line. “Give Ole Miss a ton of credit, they got off to the 24-point lead. They were very comfortable, and I thought (Daeshun) Ruffin controlled the game early on." Will Wade said. "It just took us too long to settle in. Disappointing night for us because we were not able to settle in and find a way, but we have to get back to work and continue to get better. We did a great job on the offensive boards, we just have to finish some of those. We did not do a good enough job finishing those offensive rebounds that we grabbed. Give Ole Miss credit, we had a difficult time guarding the ball and guarding Ruffin, and (Nysier) Brooks was a major issue for us down low, we ended up having to foul him a ton. (Luis) Rodriguez did a nice job hitting some critical threes. Difficult, difficult loss The game began with a fast and furious pace, but with little scoring as four minutes into the contest both teams were knotted up at 4-4 as we reached the game's first officials timeout. The Rebels returned to play going on a 13-2 run over the next two minutes, building a 17-6 lead as LSU struggled offensively. Ole Miss continued to shoot well, as Jaemyn Brakefield would hit the Rebels' third three pointer of the contest to extend the lead to 20-8 at the 12:07 mark. The Rebels stayed hot, showing the Tigers no mercy, going on a 9-5 run to go up by 16 points, 29-13 with 9:48 left in the first half. Over the next three minutes, Ole Miss would go on a 16-0 run to build a commanding 39-16 lead with 6:52 to go as LSU continued to play without a pulse, sputtering on both ends of the court. Every basket that the Tigers could manage was like watching teeth being pulled, as a second chance layup by Darius Days cut the Rebels lead to 43-21 before Eric Gaines finished off a turnover with a fast break two hand dunk to pull LSU to within 20 points, 43-23 with 3:32 left in the half. The Tigers finally started showing signs of life as they began to up their intensity on both ends of the floor. The surge in play would led to a 11-0 run, waking up the Assembly Center crowd to a roaring LSU! LSU! LSU! chant as you could feel the momentum swaying in the Bayou Bengals favor. LSU outplayed the Rebels during the final three minutes of the half, cutting the Ole Miss lead to 45-32 at halftime. Eric Gaines, Darius Days and Tari Eason each finished the first half with 7 points apiece, while Brandon Murray added 4 points and Mwani Wilkinson finished with 3. LSU finished 13-28 from the floor for 45%, while only hitting 2-9 from behind the three point arc for 22%. The Tigers found their way to the charity stripe only 6 times sinking 4 for 67%. Both teams turned the ball over 9 times, and LSU held the slight edge in the rebounding battle, 13-12. Darius Days kept the LSU momentum going to start the second half by burying a pair of three pointers from the far corner to cut the Rebels lead to seven, 45-38 less than two minutes in. With the Tigers now only trailing by seven points and the LSU crowd of 9,707 roaring like the building was the Deaf Dome of old, LSU was now wide awake and we now had a new ball game. Ole Miss fought back, responded with a 5-2 run to grab a ten point lead, 52-42 at the 15:34 mark as the officials called a stoppage in play with a timeout. Over the next four minutes, the Rebels found a second wind and managed to go on a 9-6 run to take a 61-48 lead at the 11:43 mark, as LSU found themselves having to climb out of another hole. With 8:10 left in the contest, Eric Gaines would make an incredible one handed steal, taking it the length of the court to lay it up and in to pull LSU to within nine, 66-57. Trailing 68-59 with 6:51 left in the contest, the Tigers needed a basket in the worst way and Justice Williams answered the call, banking in a layup on a beautiful drive to the goal, while drawing the foul. Williams would sink the free throw for a huge three point play, cutting the Rebels lead to 68-62 with only 5:34 left to play. Eric Gaines hit a jumper at the 2:15 mark cutting the Rebels advantage to 69-64, before Tari Eason would launch a three pointer that hit the bottom of the sack on the Tigers' next possession, pulling LSU to within two, 69-67 with 1:05 left in the game. After two successful free throws by Nysier Brooks, Tari Eason would tip in a missed shot by Eric Gaines to pull the Tigers to within two, 71-69 with 31.8 seconds left on the clock. But it was simply not to be for the Tigers as they would miss easy scoring opportunities under the basket, to pull even. Ole Miss was able to sink their free throws to clinch the 76-72 win. The Tigers continue to struggle with consistency. Their slow starts and late game slumps have allowed huge dents in the team's armor, as a once promising season has quickly spiraled out of control. LSU finished the game 28-65 from the floor for 43% compared to the Rebels shooting 52% going 22-42. Both teams shot pretty evenly from three point range as Ole Miss sank 9-21 for 43% while the Tigers hit 8-22 from behind the arc for 36%. LSU forced the Rebels into 19 total turnovers while LSU turned the ball over 16 times on the night. The Tigers were also able to outrebound the Rebels, 34-29 in the contest. But one of the key stories of the game was the fouls that LSU committed throughout the contest, sending Ole Miss to the charity stripe to hit 23-31 for 74%. The Tigers only had 13 opportunities from the free throw line only sinking 8 for 62% as they continue to shoot free throws poorly. Darius Days led the team in scoring, producing a double-double on the night with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Tari Eason and Eric Gaines both scored 16 points each while Brandon Murray added 7 points in the contest. LSU Forward Darius Days On LSU spending so much energy in the second half to dig out of the hole they made… “Oh, for sure. They were too comfortable in the beginning of the game. They got up by 24 so we dug ourselves a hole and in the second half we tried to come back and make up the difference but at the same time you know the first 10 minutes of the first half it just wasn’t there.” On how hard it is to get into rhythm when the other team keeps shooting free throws… “It’s very difficult. When we were playing defense, we were very aggressive and very handsy. So, you know I feel like the rest of the league should know that by now.” On how frustrating it was that Ole Miss kept making shots when LSU was in position… “We missed a couple switches. They were very comfortable. Like I said before in the first 10 minutes of the game you know they were hitting shots left and right. We weren’t switching. For example, Tari (Eason) and I were supposed to switch at the top of the key and (Austin) Crowley shot a three at the top of the key. It was just some things that we need to work on and get better at. Don’t count us out yet. We got time and a lot of work to do.” Guard Eric Gaines On how frustrating the past couple weeks have been and how they stay together… “Keep stacking days. Onto the next. That’s all we can do.” On what the halftime message… “Most importantly we just got to stay together. We just got to stay together.” On how his ball security and turnovers coming at the worst time… “A mistake. A mistake on my behalf. I got to keep the ball solid. Last six minutes of the game Coach (Will Wade) talked about free throws, taking care of the ball and being solid on defense. For that play, I have no excuse for it. I just got to be better.” With the disappointing loss, LSU falls to 16-6 overall and 4-5 in SEC play. Next up the Tigers will travel to Nashville to take on the Vanderbilt Commodores on Saturday Feb. 5th.... Tipoff is set for 5:00pm CT and the game will be televised on the SEC Network. Photos Below By: Michael Bacigalupi
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