By Hunt Palmer
For much of the season including the two previous conference games, the first half plagued LSU. The second half bit on Saturday.
LSU was outscored by 10 after halftime in Oxford as Ole Miss pulled away with a 77-65 win.
While it was a different half this time around, the story was the same. The Tigers continue to turn the ball over at a rate that cannot be overcome, and the offense really only comes from two places–Cam Carter and Jordan Sears.
Ole Miss is now 3-0 in SEC play and proved to be a better and more balanced team than LSU.
The Rebels shot a sizzling 61 percent in the second half, making their first three shots and 10-of-13 to begin the half. That pushed a two-point halftime lead to 17 and created enough cushion for cruise control the rest of the way.
Five Rebels reached double figures. Carter and Sears took more than half of LSU’s shots.
Sears finished 3-of-12 from the floor, and Carter was 2-of-9 from deep. The duo combined to turn the ball over seven times.
The Tigers did throw an early punch in the first half.
After falling behind 7-0 to start the game, LSU ripped off 15 straight points while holding Ole Miss scoreless for over five minutes of action. Ole Miss drew even with an 8-0 to knot things at 15, but LSU led for more than nine minutes in the first period.
They forced the Rebels into nine first half turnovers, meeting their nation-leading average on the season. Unfortunately for the Tigers, they turned those nine giveaways into just four points.
LSU sits at 0-3 in league play with winless Arkansas coming to Baton Rouge on Tuesday. After that, spotting a potential win becomes very difficult, possibly February 18 against South Carolina, though the Gamecocks took Auburn to the wire on Saturday. Bruce Pearl’s team will likely be the No. 1 team in the country on Monday.
A promising non-conference start has plummeted into a disaster of a conference start for LSU. There’s really no other way to view it.
THE STATS: Ole Miss shot just 10-for-27 (37%) in the first half with nine turnovers. The Rebels shot 17-for-28 (61%) in the second half with four turnovers.
Curtis Givens, Dji Bailey, Cam Carter and Jordan Sears turned the ball over 13 times. All of them had at least three giveaways.
Daimion Collins played 32 minutes, went 6-for-8 from the floor, scored 14 points and grabbed 4 offensive rebounds without committing a turnover. He did not record a defensive rebound.
In the first half LSU went 3-for-18 from three-point range and 7-for-10 from two-point range.
LSU was a perfect 10-for-10 on free throws in the game.
LSU’s 17 turnovers led to 23 Ole Miss points. LSU only scored 11 points off 13 Ole Miss giveaways.
Mike Williams played three minutes of mop up duty. He buried a three ball and scored seven points.
Ole Miss’s leading scored Sean Pedulla was just 1-for-7 from three. He entered the game a 42 percent three-point shooter.
