🏀 LSU’s Two-Game Road Trip: The Good, The Bad, and The “Oh God Please Hit a Three”

LSU basketball just wrapped up a two-game East Coast/Midwest business trip that basically told us everything we needed to know about this team right now. One gritty overtime win, one “welp, throw the tape in the trash” loss, and a whole lot of clarity about where the Tigers stand heading into the middle of December. They went 1–1… but it felt like two completely different teams showed up.

The High: LSU Survives an Overtime Rock Fight at Boston College

LSU beat Boston College 78–69 in OT in the ACC/SEC Challenge, and honestly, they probably deserved hazard pay for how stressful that game was. They blew a 14-point lead, forgot how to shoot threes, and somehow still gutted it out.

⭐

Dedan Thomas Jr. Put on the Cape

Dedan basically said, “Screw it, I got us,” down the stretch.

Final four points of regulation? His.

First four of OT? Also his.

23 points and 7 assists for the junior who straight-up controlled the game when things got tight. LSU goes as he goes, period.

💪

Big Boy Basketball Inside

Even with Mike Nwoko dealing with fouls, LSU bullied BC in the paint 40–22.

Marquel Sutton was a damn grown man: 18 points, 13 boards. He cleaned up every mess around the rim like he was trying to secure a raise.

🔒

Defense Woke Up at the Right Time

LSU gave up only eight points in overtime. Forced 14 turnovers. That’s the kind of defense McMahon dreams about at night.

🎯

Three-Point Shooting… or Whatever That Was

The Tigers shot 3-for-19 from deep. That’s not cold — that’s hypothermia.

It’s honestly impressive they won a road game shooting like that.

The Low: Texas Tech Opened a Three-Point Shooting School

LSU then rolled into the Coast to Coast Challenge and got smacked 82–58 by No. 19 Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were hitting threes like they were on a pop-a-shot machine at Dave & Buster’s.

💀

LSU’s Perimeter Defense Did Not Make the Trip

Texas Tech hit 13-of-27 from three. Nearly 50%. Wide-open practice-shot threes. LSU’s closeouts were… theoretical.

They were down 21 at the half, and it felt worse.

🥱

Offense Looked Gassed

LSU shot 33% from the field and 4-of-24 from deep. The ball stuck, legs looked heavy, and the OT game earlier in the week definitely didn’t help. McMahon even said the team looked “a little fatigued,” which is coach-speak for “yeah they were cooked.”

🧱

Rebounding? Hello???

48–33.

That’s the rebounding margin. No deeper explanation needed.

😬

Secondary Scoring Vanished

Dedan had 13. Nwoko had 10. And after that? Crickets.

Max Mackinnon went 0-for-9 and scored two points. LSU cannot survive nights where only two dudes show up.

🤔

What We Learned from This Trip

1. Dedan Thomas Jr. runs the whole operation.

   
   

   If he’s cooking, LSU can beat anyone. If he’s off, buckle up.

2. LSU has to fix the three-point situation ASAP.

   
   

   They can’t keep giving up a billion threes while making like… four.

3. Depth is a real issue.

   
   

   Losing Jalen Reed hurts, and the short rotation is already showing cracks.

Final Verdict

The BC win showed LSU can grind out an ugly one and still come out on top.

The Texas Tech loss showed what happens when the shooting goes cold and the defense goes missing.

Both games were reality checks, just in very different ways. Welcome to college basketball.