Let’s be clear…LSU had this. The game was over. The Tigers had dominated all game and were up 16 midway through the second half.
Even when the Wolfpack started to score behind Cat Barber’s penetration, they still weren’t getting any stops. But then it happened…or rather stopped happening.
With little over ten minutes to play LSU stopped hitting shots. They wouldn’t make another from the floor for the rest of the game.
Slowly, NC State started to climb back into it behind some big buckets from Reserved forward Kyle Washington. Yet, the Wolfpack couldn’t keep the Tigers off the line. It appeared State would run out of time.
However, LSU wasn’t done flushing a victory down the toilet as they shockingly missed their final five free throws. In the final minute the Wolfpack got to within one when beefy Beejay Anya tipped in a missed three pointer.
On the other end, LSU milked the clock and got the perfect shot, two feet from the rim, but the ball refused to fall in for Jordan Mickey. NC State had the ball, down one, but the ball got into the hands of Trevor Lacey, who was having an awful game. Caught picking up his dribble with the clock ticking down, he handed the ball to Anya (expecting the ball to be given right back). Instead, the sophomore took a step towards the basket, spun around and put up a light floater. Avoiding an Abdul-Malik Abu basket interference, the ball slipped in with one-tenth of a second left. Ball game.
Whether you want to call it one of the tournaments greatest comebacks or one of the worst collapes is up to you. All I know is NC State gets to play again and LSU is going home.
- As impressive as NC State was down the stretch, I fall on the side of “LSU blew it.” They missed their last 12 shots of the game, including that final lay in that would have given the Tigers a three-point lead with 22 seconds to go. They missed their last five free throws and a total of eight in the game’s final nine minutes.
- Typically the Wolfpack rely on their big three (Trevor Lacey, Anthony Barber and Ralshton Turner) for scoring. Barber had a good game, scoring 17 (on 16 shots). However, Thursday night, the other guys stepped up. Abdul-Malik Abu was the only guy hitting shots early. He finished 5-for-7 from the floor, scoring 13. Kyle Washington was key to their second half rum with his three big baskets and of course, while BeeJay Anya only scored four points, they were the most important four points in the game.
- Where has Trevor Lacey gone? The dude picked the worst time to have his worst two games. Against Duke in the ACC Tournament, he was just 1-for-5. Against LSU he was 4-for-15, including 1-for-7 from deep and trust me, it was a brutal 1-for-7. I mean, his shots weren’t even close to falling in. When I saw him with the ball in his hands in the final seconds I assumed the Wolfpack were toast. Luckily for them, he gave up the ball.
- As a team NC State hit just 5-for-24 from three, gave up more rebounds, turned it over more, had more shots blocked and had 15 less free throw attempts…but won.
- LSU M&M brothers (Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey) had good stat lines, combining for 28 points and 25 rebounds. Tim Quarterman led the team with 17, but they got nothing from their guards. Keith Hornsby, Jalyn Patterson and Josh Gray combined to hit just 8-for-23 from the floor. You know what they say, “that’s just the way it is.”
