NASHVILLE, TN – The LSU men’s basketball team dropped their opener at the SEC Tournament in Nashville 70-60 to Mississippi State after struggling to score in the second half.

After leading 29-22 at the half, the Tigers went long stretches of the second half without scoring a field goal as the Bulldogs put together a 15-8 run to finish the game.

For the second game in a row against Mississippi St., guard Trae Hannibal led the Tigers in scoring with 18 points but just one assist.

LSU struggled to find scoring from others as only Hunter Dean scored ten points or more for the Tigers and he had just three second half points.

The Tigers shot 31% from the field in the second half, down from their 46% in the first half.  Mississippi State figured out their offense in the second half as they shot just 10% from three in the first half, but finished the second half with 5 of 11 makes for 45%. 

LSU will now wait to find out if they received an invite to the NIT, a second-tier postseason tournament in which teams that do not have a strong enough season to make the NCAA tournament often play in.

In his second season as head coach, Matt McMahon’s Tigers will finish their season with a 17-15 record and 9-10 record in SEC games.  LSU finished last season with a the year with a 2-16 SEC record and a 14-19 overall mark.