Tigers notch first SEC win over Mizzou

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

They’re on the board.

LSU controlled the action against Missouri on Saturday afternoon and never trailed in a, 78-70, victory to move to 1-4 in league play.

For the second consecutive game, LSU’s early defense was exceptional. Missouri missed its first seven shots and didn’t make a field goal for the first 5:42 of game time. By that point the homestanding Tigers had built a 10-point lead that they held rather comfortably for much of the ballgame.

Marquel Sutton played his best game as a Tiger. He dictated the early flow of the game for LSU offensively, scoring 19 points in the first half. He put the ball on the floor and attacked the rim to get to the line eight times before intermission. He made seven of them.

With Dedan Thomas Jr. out, someone else has to initiate offense. Much of that burden has fallen on Max Mackinnon, but Sutton carried the freight on Saturday.

He finished the game with a season-high 26 points.

Missouri went to a zone in the second half, and it slowed LSU down a bit. The LSU lead shrunk to 53-50 with 10:11 to play on a three ball from Missouri’s Jayden Stone. The home team figured the zone out from there and connected on six straight field goal to swell the lead to 10 with 5:49 left.

The play that essentially iced it came from fill-in point guard Rashad King. With just over a minute to play and Missouri within four, King drove the lane late in the shot clock and floated in a running right hander in traffic to make it a six-point advantage.

Missouri would score on the ensuing possession, but by the time Pablo Tamba was fouled and marched to the free throw line, only 26 seconds remained and the Tigers led by four. Unlike Wednesday, Tamba made them both, and the issue was settled.

LSU is in a bad spot, but the Tigers aren’t quite dead. Thomas continues to watch in street clothes, and the week to come is brutally difficult. Still, LSU has played Texas A&M, Kentucky and Missouri straight up without its best player available. His return is crucial to a midseason run.