Longhorns hold off Tiger surge to win in Austin

Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

Max Mackinnon and LSU put on an offensive clinic in the second half on Tuesday.

That clinic cut a 16-point Texas lead down to three late, but when LSU needed baskets the most, Mackinnon wasn’t featured. The Tigers missed their last three field goals of consequence and lost in Austin, 88-85.

Mackinnon made a three to shrink the Longhorn lead to six with 3:15 left and a lay into make it 85-80 with 2:05 left. To that point, the Aussie wing was 8-for-10 from the floor in the second half and had scored 19 points after halftime, 25 overall, to lead one hell of an LSU charge.

The next three set plays created a running one-hander by Mike Nwoko that missed, a pair of free throws by Nwoko and a drive by 6-foot point guard Jalen Reece into the chest of seven-footer Matas Vokietaitis. It was blocked.

Mackinnon’s exclusion from the possessions that decided the game was head scratching at best.

Of course, the second half was going to have to go nearly perfectly for LSU to climb out of familiar hole it dug. Texas scored 48 points before the half and led the Tigers by 15. It looked like LSU would go quietly, but that wasn’t the case.

The Tigers shot 63 percent in the second half including 4-for-8 from three-point range. They only committed one turnover against 10 assists, eight by Reece.

Ultimately, it’s just an additional loss and nothing further for a team that’s 2-11 in league play and playing out the string. However, that type of half that featured a 12-0 run and enough punch to climb all the way back into the game makes the final sequence of plays so disappointing.

LSU has lost four straight and returns home for a matchup with Alabama on Saturday in the Maravich Center.