FINAL Miss. St. 79 LSU 52 2017 SEC MBB Tourney Game 1

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/WillSammon/status/839490449630969856

STARKVILLE – In a moment of reflection now that the regular season is over, Ben Howland revealed a smirk when he thought back to Mississippi State's opener against Norfolk State.

"We crushed them by four," Howland said. "You think about some of our games ... Northwestern State was a resounding 1-point win. This team got better, no question."

Before MSU (15-15) plays LSU (10-20) in the first round of the SEC Tournament in Nashville on Wednesday (6 p.m., SEC Network), it's fair to examine how much, if at all, the Bulldogs actually improved.

The Bulldogs were 9-3 overall with an adjusted efficiency margin of 4.3, according to Kenpom, before conference play. Adjusted efficiency shows the number of points a team would be expected to outscore the average Division-I team over 100 possessions. It's worth pointing out that 4.3 is an especially low number when considering MSU's strength of schedule at the time was ranked No. 345 at the time by Kenpom.

For the youngest team in the country, the SEC Tournament can serve as a final opportunity to prove MSU has improved over the course of the season in key areas while building toward next season, which will come with heightened expectations.

"I think we have a good chance, to be honest," Quinndary Weatherspoon said.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/LSUBeatTweet/status/839532635265314816

BATON ROUGE — Various "unnamed sources" have been saying — or making a safe prediction — that LSU basketball coach Johnny Jones will be fired shortly after his team's season ends, which could be on Wednesday night in the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

The Tigers (10-20, 2-16 SEC), who are the No. 13 seed in a 14-team league, play No. 12 seed Mississippi State (15-15, 6-12 SEC) at 6 p.m. Wednesday night to open the tournament in Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, on the SEC Network. Mississippi State defeated LSU just last Saturday by 88-76 to end the regular season and beat LSU, 95-78 on Jan. 7 to start a record 15-game losing streak for the Tigers.

LSU athletic director Joe Alleva, who hired Jones after the 2011-12 season, has been silent publicly about Jones' future, but several university contacts have been saying for weeks that Jones will not be retained for the 2017-18 season. The Tigers' 15-game losing skid broke the record of 14 that was set in the 1965-66 season and tied in the 1966-67 season before the namesake of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center played on the LSU varsity. And 12 of those losses were by double digits.

This season came on the heels of Jones not reaching the NCAA Tournament last year despite having the consensus No. 1 recruit in the world in freshman forward Ben Simmons, who was the first player selected in the NBA Draft last summer, along with highly recruited guard Antonio Blakeney, who was named to the second unit of the coaches' All-SEC team as a sophomore on Tuesday, and several other talented veterans such as Keith Hornsby, Tim Quarterman and Craig Victor. Despite all that talent, LSU lost 71-38 in the SEC Tournament last year to Texas A&M to finish the season 19-14 overall and 11-7 in the SEC. Then Jones became the first basketball coach in LSU history to decline a bid to play in a national postseason tournament when he turned down the National Invitation Tournament.

[jbcarol]

No. 13 seed LSU (10-20, 2-16 SEC) vs. No. 12 seed Mississippi State (15-15, 6-12 SEC)

Bridgestone Arena, Nashville

All-time series: LSU leads 109-100

• OPENING UP: This marks the first time since the SEC expanded to 14 teams in 2013, when Texas A&M and Missouri entered the league, that LSU has had to play a first-round game in the league tournament.

• ANOTHER OPPORTUNITY: LSU is playing in the SEC tournament for the 58th time overall and 39th time since the conference brought back the postseason event in 1979 following a 26-year hiatus from 1953-78.

• AT THE TOURNAMENT: LSU is 47-56 all-time in the SEC tournament and is 12-5 in its opener since 2000 with a 3-1 mark under Johnny Jones. Last year, LSU had a double-bye and beat Tennessee 84-75 in the quarterfinals.

• WE MEET AGAIN: Tonight's game is a rematch of Saturday's season finale between LSU and Mississippi State. It's the first time LSU played the same team in the season finale and tournament opener since 1993 vs. Ole Miss.

• TAS HONORED: Former LSU standout Tasmin Mitchell, a former Denham Springs High star who played on the Tigers' Final Four team in 2006, will be honored at halftime tonight as the school's SEC Basketball Legend for 2017.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/SECNetwork/status/839636549511839744

[jbcarol]

 Will Sammon‏Verified account @WillSammon 8m8 minutes ago

Mississippi State closes the first half on a 13-0 and has a 37-25 lead over LSU. Tyson Carter with 13 points.

[jbcarol]

 Sheldon Mickles‏Verified account @MicklesAdvocate 4m4 minutes ago

#LSU shot 9 of 25 (36.0%) from the field and had 13 turnovers in the first 20 minutes; State was 14 of 29 (48.3%) with 9 turnovers.

[jbcarol]

 Ron Higgins‏ @RonHigg 13m13 minutes ago

LSU can't even avoid turnover throwing ball inbounds with 0.5 left in half. Carter collects and nearly hits running 3. Halftime 37-25 MSU

[jbcarol]

 Will Sammon‏Verified account @WillSammon 29m29 minutes ago

I'm convinced neither team really wants to win this game.

[jbcarol]

 Sheldon Mickles‏Verified account @MicklesAdvocate 3h3 hours ago

FINAL SCORE from NASHVILLE -- Mississippi State 79, #LSU 52. LSU ends season 10-21; State improves to 16-15 and will play Alabama Thursday.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/WillSammon/status/839655999623610368

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/WillSammon/status/839678804540936192

MSU had three starters without a field goal, but Howland said there likely won't be any changes to the lineup vs. Alabama