Aggies struggle to get shots to fall in 77-54 loss at LSU
The Aggies struggled on Tuesday night. They struggled to score. And they struggled to prevent LSU freshman Cameron Thomas from scoring.
As a result, Texas A&M fell 77-54 in its Southeastern Conference basketball opener at the Maravich Center in Baton Rouge.
A&M converted fewer than 40 percent of its shots, while Thomas hit five 3-pointers en route to a career-high 32-point outburst.
Quenton Jackson netted 17 and Emanuel Miller had 14 to lead the Aggies (5-2), but they didn’t get much help. A&M shot just 38.2 percent from the field. That included a frigid 19.2 percent (5 of 26) from the 3-point line.
A&M coach Buzz Williams said the inaccuracy wasn’t a matter of bad shot selection. The Aggies typically got good looks, but often were frustrated by LSU’s defensive presence.
“We shot 55 shots tonight. Forty-two are what we would define as perfect. Twelve were average,” Williams said. “We made one out of 12 average shots. We shot 48 percent on perfect shots.
“We did not take bad shots. We did not make those shots, but a lot of that, in my opinion, was not necessarily because we just didn’t make them. I think it was the athleticism, the force and the quickness and the length that LSU has relative to those shots. We can’t mimic that in how we practice.”
The Aggies led early and trailed just 19-18 after a pair of Jackson free throws with 8:04 left in the half.
But LSU dominated from there as Thomas and Darius Days each scored 13 points in the first half.
Days hit two treys and Thomas had another to launch a 17-2 run which staked the Tigers to a 36-20 lead with 2:25 remaining.
“When they started hitting a bunch of threes late in the clock that kind of took a toll on us,” Miller said. “Now we have to figure out how to finish possessions. We were energetic early in the possessions. Now we have to figure a way to: one, defend the shot and force the deepest shot possible and two, finish the rebound.”
The Aggies were able to momentarily trim the deficit to 38-27 after Jackson followed two free throws with a transition basket off a steal.
But LSU’s Mwani Wilkinson was fouled by Jackson while scoring a layup. He converted the 3-point play to give the Tigers their 14-point advantage at the break.
LSU’s lead reached as many as 26 points, 70-44, when guard Javonte Smart scored a layup with 7:56 remaining.
The Aggies seemed to have an optimistic outlook despite the lopsided loss. No doubt, that’s because they’ve been in this situation before.
Last season the Aggies were soundly defeated by Arkansas, 69-59, in the SEC opener. However, they gelled later and finished 10-8 in conference play.
“This is the first game of conference play against a very great team.” Miller said. “Just like last year, we started off rocky and then we picked things up because we started to figure out what it takes to win. I think this is just another challenge on our path for the future.”