Red Raiders blast LSU in Fort Worth

Stephen Lew-Imagn Images

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

LSU faced its biggest non-conference test on Sunday.

The Tigers failed.

Texas Tech drilled eight of its first nine threes to storm to an early lead, and the game was never competitive, resulting in an 82-58 blowout in Fort Worth.

While the Red Raiders continued to score, everything came difficult for LSU on the offensive end. LSU was down nine after four minutes of play and 15 after 10. The halftime deficit was 21, and it never got closer than 17 in the second half.

LSU’s defensive plan was clearly to limit reigning Big 12 Player of the Year JT Toppin. The Tigers sent frequent double teams his way and tried to get the ball out of his hands. Texas Tech was fine with that. The Red Raiders calmly buried shot after shot from the perimeter. Toping finished with a season-low 11 points.

Red Raider guard Chris Anderson made 5-of-9 threes and scored 27 points to go with his eight assists. Dedan Thomas Jr. led LSU with 13 points, but it took him 14 field goal attempts to get there.

The Tigers made just 4-of-24 threes and shot 33 percent from the floor.

As awful as the performance was on both sides of the floor, it’s one game. Texas Tech may not have a better shooting game this season, and LSU can’t shoot it much worse. It’s a shot making game, and this one was as lopsided as it could get. That’s going to happen over the course of a long season. The question becomes, was it a one-day thing, or is this who LSU is when faced with high-level competition?

LSU will take a week off and take on SMU in New Orleans on Saturday. It’s vital for the Tigers to respond to their first loss of the season with an inspired effort in the Big Easy.