Tigers mauled by Bulldogs to fall to 1-7

January 28, 2026: during NCAA Basketball action between the Mississippi State Bulldogs and the LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, LA. Michael Bacigalupi

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

Turn out the lights.

That is, unless Mississippi State shot them out on Wednesday night. The Bulldogs entered the Maravich Center losers of five straight and ran LSU clear off its own floor, 80-66.

Any hopes LSU had of righting the ship sailed as the clock ticked down. The Tigers are 1-7 in SEC play without a realistic path out of the rut.

Defense has plagued LSU in its losses all season. It was awful early and often against Mississippi State. This time the offense simultaneously failed. The result was a 10-point Bulldog lead before four minutes had been played and a 20-point advantage after 10 minutes.

LSU started 4-of-15 from the floor. State countered with 11-of-18 including 4-0f-6 from the three-point line. The Bulldogs got wherever they wanted on the floor. The Tigers were swarmed at every turn.

LSU was held to a season-low 21 points before halftime and trailed by 23. That 21-point total came from a 9-of-28 effort from the floor including 1-of-10 from the three-point line. The Tigers, who entered as the second-best foul shooting team in the league, made 2-of-8 before the break.

A counterpunch never came.

Unlike the scrappy, if flawed, effort against an equally hapless South Carolina team three weeks ago, LSU didn’t cut the lead to under 16 points after intermission until 38 seconds remained. Mississippi State was whistled for a flagrant one foul which netted LSU a pair of free throws that did little more than extend the misery.

Name the stat, other than turnovers, LSU lost it, and it came with the season essentially on the line.

Boos briefly emitted from the otherwise emotionless Maravich Center fans in attendance before halftime. Much of the measly crowd filed out with multiple media timeouts remaining.

LSU has inexplicably played some of its best basketball against some of the better teams in the league– Texas A&M, Kentucky and Arkansas. Against two of its fellow cellar dwellers –South Carolina and Mississippi State — the Tigers have failed to show up.

A season that started with some cautious optimism with a steady non-conference effort against mostly overmatched opponents has screeched to a halt. LSU likely hasn’t won its final game of the season, but it’s won its final game of significance.

The light is now at the end of the tunnel.