Tigers try to extend season in SECT opener
03/12/2025
By Hunt Palmer
LSU’s season is day-to-day now.
The Tigers will only play as long as they win. And that starts with Mississippi State Wednesday night in Nashville on Opening Day of the SEC Tournament.
The Tigers are seeded 15th and will take on the 10th seeded Bulldogs.
Mississippi State is safely in the Field of 68 even with a first-round loss to a poor LSU team. Joe Lunardi of ESPN has the Bulldogs as an 8-seed. CBS’s Jerry Palm is even more…bullish…tabbing Chris Jans’s team as a No. 6 seed.
That’s the strength of the SEC as Mississippi State enters conference tournament week with another losing league record and a spot safely in The Dance. the same was true last year when Mississippi State made a run to the SEC Tournament semis.
LSU, on the other hand, will find its season in the rearview with a loss.
RECENT REMATCH
These two teams met in Starkville on March 1. State’s offense controlled the action, and the Bulldogs won 81-69.
State shot 57 percent for the game and 64 percent after halftime. Josh Hubbard torched the Tigers for 30 points on 9-for-18 shooting and 10 free throws in 11 tries. Hubbard is very clearly the head of the State snake. When he gets going, Mississippi State is tough to deal with.
Cam Carter was also excellent in that game. He scored 23 points and was 5-for-10 from three-point range. He got no help. The rest of the Tigers were 4-for-26 from deep and mustered just 46 points.
BALL CONTROL
Both of these teams have taken very good care of the basketball in the last two months.
The Bulldogs have committed 329 turnovers through 31 games which shatters a program low dating back to at least the 1979-80 season. State has had 11 games of committing single-digit turnovers this season headed by a program-low two miscues at Arkansas (03/08) during the regular season finale.
LSU has also done a great job omitting turnovers since late January when they were a huge problem. For the Tigers, it’ll be key to continue that because LSU will need additional shot opportunities to keep up with a potent Bulldog offense.
In the matchup two weeks ago, LSU shot 13 more field goals than State who won the 22-14. LSU has to at least remain competitive in those stats to stay close.
JORDAN RULES
It’s been a bumpy road for Jordan Sears in conference games. He’s shot just 27 percent from three-point range and lost a lot of playing time to Curtis Givens in the process.
In the regular season finale, he found something. He scored 21 points and made three from downtown. If LSU is going to beat Mississippi State, Sears is going to have to play a role. Givens may struggle to keep up with Hubbard. And he certainly can’t score with him.
Sears at least gives LSU a chance at that. Now, on March 1, Sears was 3-for-13 from the floor and 1-for-6 from deep. That kind of effort will probably get LSU bounced.
The game is scheduled for 6:00 on SEC Network. It’s the third of four games on the schedule at Bridgestone Arena.
