Aggie Hoops falls at LSU in SEC opener

That wasn’t great, gang.

One week after our legitimately encouraging comeback against Wofford, we were run off the gym by a P5 team for the second time running. Which is a problem when you approach the portion of the year that consists solely of P5 teams.

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First Half

We kept it close for a while, but the entire evening was quick to develop an eerie “we’re going to get our shots but they’re not going to drop” feeling. Well that, and LSU had Cameron Thomas, who was clearly the best player on the floor.

A flurry of LSU shots landed right as we hit our coldest spell of the period, and the end result was a 17-2 extended LSU run that buried us for the evening.

Halftime score: LSU 41, Texas A&M 27

Second Half

We never challenged. Typically when you fall behind by double digits at halftime, you like to see (at least) one second half run that makes the home team uneasy and forces a timeout.

We never had that.

LSU was comfortable, and our shooting just wasn’t going to change anything.

Final Score: LSU 77, Texas A&M 54

Additional Notes

• LSU grabbed 15 of their 35 missed shots, good for a 43% offensive rebounding clip that’s sure to light up today’s film session
• Buzz Williams loves to “cheat” points at the free throw line, and that didn’t happen in this game. Our FTA and FT% were far below their season averages, which can probably be blamed for the score being this lopsided instead of a... more respectable margin.
• Savion Flagg (0-10 3PT) was a non-factor in the scoring column, and we don’t have the depth to absorb that hit against teams in the top half of the SEC. His vision was on point and he was adept defensively, but we need more from the Senior leader if we want to seriously compete in games like this.

Final Thoughts

The effort was there. The game got out of hand as we approached the midway point of the second half, and it remained out of hand as we limped towards the finish line, but effort wasn’t the problem. It feels important to mention that given the context/commentary surrounding the earlier loss to TCU.

This game was a “Cam Thomas is the best player on the floor and we aren’t hitting good looks” problem. It’s still a problem, but it’s one that feels infinitely more solvable.

Next up is our SEC home opener against Auburn on Saturday

BTHO Auburn