LSU collapses down the stretch in 66-65 loss to N.C. State
PITTSBURGH – LSU was roaring and rolling. Then it choked and died.
North Carolina State forward BeeJay Anya, who had four points on the night, hit a short jumper in the lane with 0.1 seconds remaining to give North Carolina State its first lead since 8:42 of the first half - and the last lead - for a 66-65 victory over the Tigers in their NCAA Tournament opener at the Consol Energy Center Thursday night.
LSU led 40-26 at the half and looked very much in control with a 62-48 advantage with 9:15 to go, but the Tigers surrendered a 10-0 run to allow the Wolfpack to get within 62-58 with 5:48 to go. Then from the 3:59 mark until 1:03 remained, the Tigers missed six consecutive free throws to keep N.C. State in the game. After Tim Quarterman made a free throw for a 65-60 lead with 3:59 left, he missed the second one. Then he missed the front end of a one-and-one free throw opportunity with 2:51 to go.
North Carolina State cut it to 65-62 with 2:35 to play on a jumper by guard Trevor Lacey, who had missed 11 of his previous 14 shots. Forward Jordan Mickey missed two free throws at the 1:25 mark and two more with 1:03 left. Anya closed the Wolfpack to within 65-64 just past the one-minute mark on a tip-in for his first points of the game.
Mickey had a chance to give LSU a 67-64 lead, but he missed a very short shot in the lane. The Wolfpack rebounded with 13.9 to go and called timeout to set up the game winning play. Anya's shot completed an 18-3 Wolfpack run that ended the game. Guard Anthony Barber led North Carolina State with 17 points. Former LSU guard Ralston Turner added 10, and forward Abdul-Malik Abu scored 13.
North Carolina State (21-13) advances to play Big East champion and No. 1 seed Villanova (33-2) on Saturday. Villanova beat No. 16 seed Lafayette, 93-52, Thursday afternoon. LSU finishes 22-11 after reaching the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009. The Tigers went 0-1 in the Big Dance for the first time since the 2005 season.
LSU simply outplayed the Wolfpack, a sixth place finisher in the powerful Atlantic Coast Conference, on both ends of the floor in the first half with a 22-12 rebounding advantage and just five turnovers to 10. LSU even hit 4 of its 5 free throws with Mickey going 3-for-3.
Jarell Martin, who had 16 points and 11 rebounds, and Mickey, who had 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds, were the wolves among puppies as they combined to score 20 points in the first half with 13 rebounds. Martin added an assist and a steal, while Mickey blocked a shot, also had a steal and contributed two assists. Quarterman finished with a team-high 17 points after scoring 10 in the first half.
North Carolina State appeared to not know what was hitting it as the Tigers outscored the Wolfpack 9-2 over the final two minutes of the half to take their biggest lead of the game at 40-26. Martin powered in for a layup and a 33-24 lead as red and gray bodies fell by the wayside. Then Martin grabbed a missed 3-pointer by Jalyn Patterson with one hand and slammed that home for a 35-26 advantage with 1:14 to go.
Then the other half of the M&M men joined in with force inside for a layup while being fouled, and he yelled with glee. He made the free throw for a 38-26 lead with 47 seconds to go. Martin added a dunk with nine seconds left for the two-touchdown advantage.
The game was basically even through the first 12 and a half minutes as neither team led by more than four points. The Wolfpack led for the last time at 20-19 with 8:42 to go in the first half on a short jumper by Abu. But then LSU went on a 12-0 run featuring five scorers to take a 31-20 lead with 4:45 to play, courtesy of a dunk and two free throws by Mickey, a dunk by Martin, a layup by Quarterman, a layup by Patterson and coast-to-Atlantic-coast layup by Gray.
In the end, though, it did not matter how great LSU looked through the first 36 minutes because they blew another one.
Glenn Guilbeau writes for Gannett Louisiana.
