LSU Basketball Drops Second Straight Game as the Offense Runs Cold in 70-68 Loss to USC

Tigers can't convert late as team drops to 7-4

After leading for nearly 30 minutes in regulation on Saturday, the LSU offense fell apart in the final five minutes on the road against USC, losing its second straight game in heartbreaking fashion to the Trojans 70-68.

There were opportunities late as LSU (7-4) scratched and clawed its way back from a seven point deficit late in the game after blowing a lead that was as large as eight points in the second half.

But closing games continued to be a problem for LSU as a 13-2 run late in the second half turned out to be too much for the Tigers to overcome, mainly because LSU went seven minutes without a made field goal.

Leading 55-50 with 8:18 to go, the Tigers went on a killer dry spell that resulted in only four free throws over the next seven minutes of the game, allowing USC to find its rhythm in the process and go on the big run.

After holding USC to under 35% shooting for the first 25 minutes of the game, the Trojans came alive, connecting on 13 of their final 23 shots for a 50% second half shooting performance as opposed to the 33% first half struggle.

LSU was thoroughly dominated on the glass 40-29 against East Tennessee State on Wednesday and wanted to make amends for that performance on Saturday. The Tigers fared much better as they  bounced back with an impressive day on the boards to help in the effort against USC.

The Tigers out-rebounded the Trojans 43-40 including 13 offensive rebounds that turned into 10 second chance points. Freshman Trendon Watford and sophomore Darius Days in particular dominated the offensive glass, grabbing nine between the two.

Watford turned in an overall game that probably goes down as his best in the young freshman's campaign, scoring 17 points with 10 rebounds and four assists. 

Senior Skylar Mays tried to lead the charge in the second half, dropping 16 of his 21 points in the second frame but ultimately wasn't able to get the last shot of the game. Instead a rebound off a missed USC free throw with 5.6 seconds left, wound up in the hands of Javonte Smart.

Smart, who had gone 2-for-12 to that point in the game, sped the ball up the floor but his shot was blocked as time expired.

LSU came into Saturday night's game shooting 61% on two point attempts, good for second best in the nation. The Tigers attacked the paint early and often as 24 of the 35 first half LSU points came inside the painted area.

But for a team that came in shooting lights out when getting to the rim, Saturday the shots weren't falling as consistently as LSU went 17-for-35 on its layup attempts.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 15-9 lead but the offense went cold over the next seven minutes of play, going on a 1-for-10 stretch from the field and letting the Trojans hang around. Luckily for LSU, neither team was exactly lighting it up from the field in the first half. 

LSU shot 38% from the field in the first half while USC shot a putrid 33%. A 14-4 run to end the half helped the Tigers grab a 35-28 lead, all without the help of Emmitt Williams, who missed the final 12 minutes due to foul trouble.

The Tigers will now have a week until their next game in the PMAC, where they will take on undefeated Liberty on Dec. 29 at 12:30 p.m.