Michael Bacigalupi
BATON ROUGE – Rashaun Agee’s layup and subsequent free throw with 24 seconds left ended up being the winning points in Texas A&M’s 94-91 triple overtime win over LSU Saturday in the regular season finale at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU finished the regular season at 15-16 and 3-15 in the Southeastern Conference and will play the first game in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. against Kentucky (the No. 9 seed). The tournament is set for Bridgestone Arena in Nashville.
Texas A&M finishes the regular season 21-10 and 11-7 in the league.
Just like the opening game of the conference season, the LSU margin of defeat was just three points but it took 15 extra minutes to decide this contest.
Agee put A&M back in the lead after LSU’s Jalen Reece had give the Tigers a 91-90 advantage with 42 seconds left in triple OT on an in the paint jumper.
After the Agee three-point play, Reece missed an attempt with 10 seconds left and LSU was forced to foul with 6.8 seconds remaining. Ali DIbba went make-miss to make it 94-91 with LSU getting the rebound and calling a time out with just under six seconds to play. Max Mackinnon was able to get a look from distance but the shot missed and A&M rebounded as the buzzer sounded.
Agee had 26 points with 11 rebounds, while Rylan Griffen had 24 points. Pop Isaacs had 18 points with Dibba scoring 12.
Five players were in double figures for the Tigers with Max Mackinnon scoring 20, Jalen Reece 17 and five assists, Mike Nwoko 16 points and 13 rebounds while Robert Miller III and Marquel Sutton had 12 points each.
LSU started strong against the Texas A&M press, jumping out to two 15-point advantages in the first 13 minutes at 26-11 (8:52) and 8-13 (7:24) to play as the Aggies opened shooting less than 30 percent while LSU was able to get their percentage much like Tuesday’s Auburn game over 50 percent.
But Texas A&M began to hit some shots and force some turnovers and LSU went to the half up five, 38-33.
LSU shot 14-of-28 in the half, while A&M was 10-of-35 (28.6%).
The Tigers held the lead until the 7:25 mark of the second half when Dibba scored off an LSU turnover to give the Aggies a 61-60 lead. The teams stayed tied the rest of the way with A&M’s biggest lead coming on two occasions at three points in the final three minutes of regulation.
LSU was down two, 70-68, after a 1-of-2 free throw situation by Nwoko. Isaacs missed a three-pointer, Sutton grabbed the defensive rebound and drove the lane to tie the game at 70-70 with 38 seconds left.
A&M missed a three in the final 18 seconds and LSU had the final shot but a three-pointer missed and the game headed to overtime at 70-70.
In the first overtime, A&M led 76-74 with 1:45 left. After a free throw miss and Nwoko rebounds, Miller got the ball to Mackinnon who hit a three-pointer to give LSU a 77-76 lead with 1:23 to play. Agee responded with a three-pointer for A&M to give the Aggies a 79-77 lead.
After Reece missed a three-pointer and A&M got the defensive rebound with 42 seconds left, Agee turned it over and Miller got the steal, got the ball to Jalen Reece who drive down the court to hit a jumper with under seven seconds to tie the game at 79-79.
Texas A&M got to the paint but couldn’t score, sending the game to double overtime.
In the second overtime, LSU took an 83-81 lead with 1:04 to play on a fast break layup. On A&M’s next possession, Marcus Hill scored to tie the game at 83 with 50 seconds remaining. He was fouled and made the free throw to give the Aggies the lead at 84-83.
LSU missed a three pointer with 36 seconds left and had to foul after the A&M rebound. Griffen went make-miss to put the lead at 85-63 for the Aggies.
Mike Nwoko drew a foul on LSU’s possession and hit two free throws to tie the game at 85 with 12 seconds to play. A&M didn’t get a shot off as Reece forced a turnover and steal as the horn sounded forcing the triple overtime.
LSU never had the lead in the third overtime, rallying to tie the game for the last time at 87-87 on two Nwoko free throws with 3:20 left.
Nwoko made 12-of-14 free throws in the contest and it was his second double double of the season.
For the game, LSU shot 44.3 percent (31-of-70), with eight distance makes (28.6 percent) and 21-of-30 from the line. A&M finished the game at 36.9 percent (31-of-84), with 10 three-pointers and 23-of-32 from the line.
LSU had a season high 22 turnovers which resulted in a 23-15 advantage for the Aggies in points off turnovers.
The Tigers registered a 54-49 advantage rebounding and both teams had 42 points in the paint.
The game was the final regular season home game for the six LSU seniors – Jaden Bobbett, PJ Carter, Rashad King, Pablo Tamba, Sutton and Mackinnon. They were honored in pregame ceremonies.
**LSU Press Release
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