Futile first half ultimately dooms A&M as drought extends to seven
Certain weather patterns are predictable.
Monsoons. El Niño.
And, of course, the Texas A&M scoring drought.
That drought arrived early on Tuesday night. The Aggies were scoreless for more than seven minutes in a horrific first half in which they hit little more than bottom.
A gritty effort in the second half wasn’t nearly enough to prevent a seventh consecutive Southeastern Conference basketball loss as A&M (15-9, 4-7) fell to LSU at Reed Arena, 76-68.
The Aggies fell behind 36-16 in a futile first half. They rallied and twice pulled within eight in the second half but never seriously threatened LSU (17-7, 5-6), which posted its 10th straight victory over A&M.
It was A&M’s worst half since managing just 17 points in the first half of a 69-36 loss to Florida in 2014.
“We were as bad as you can be in the first half and arguably as good as you can be in the second half,” A&M coach Buzz Williams said. “If you only looked at the first half and second half, that explains the story of the game.
"You can’t score 16 points in one half, have 10 turnovers, shoot five free throws and then in the second half score 52 points, shoot 25 free throws have 12 offensive rebounds.
“That’s a reflection of me. I have to do a lot better job so that we’re — from start to finish — playing with the energy required.”
The Aggies’ energy crisis started soon after Marcus Williams hit a floater to forge a 13-13 tie with 9:53 left in the first half.
A&M did not score again until freshman Manny Obaseki converted a baseline layup with 2:32 remaining.
By then, A&M was trailing 28-15.
LSU did not let up. The Tigers answered Obaseki’s basket with consecutive 3-pointers from Darius Days and Brandon Murray.
The Aggies shot just 21.4 percent (6-of-28) from the field and 11.1 percent (1-of-9) from the 3-point line in the first half.
Williams was blindsided by the Aggies' first-half futility.
“I was not expecting it,” Buzz Williams said. “I did not sense it. Our prep was good on Monday. They were good in shoot-around today. They were good in pregame. They were good in the locker room.
“I told them that it would come down to how hard we fought, how many 50-50 balls we would get, how active we were when the ball was in the air or on the ground. But I didn’t sense that it would be as poor as it was in the first half.”
A&M showed signs of life in the second half.
Tyrece Radford, who led A&M with 15 points, and Wade Taylor IV hit 3-pointers in a 10-0 run that reduced LSU’s lead to 46-38 with 11:42 to play.
“I think we knew as a team as a whole that’s not Texas A&M basketball in the first half, said Henry Coleman III, who posted a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. “We spoke to each otherm and it spoke to ourselves. This is not us. There was a fire inside all of us to come out and play our guts out in the second half.”
However, Tari Eason, who led LSU with 25 points, scored back-to-back layups as the Tigers quickly regained control.
A&M mounted a final challenge with a trio of 3-pointers in the waning minutes, but that was only good enough to bring the Aggies within eight.
The Aggies shot a respectable 41.7 percent, hit seven 3-pointers and grabbed 23 rebounds — 12 offensive — in the second half.
That resurgence might have been a matter of pride after their first-half debacle.
Williams agreed but wondered where that pride was beforehand.
“I think there were embarrassed,” Williams said. “(But) After losing six in a row, we should be embarrassed prior to the jump ball.”