LSU basketball fell 74-64 to SMU after a poor second half. | LSU

Robert Miller rolled to the hoop after slipping a ball screen he set.

The 6-10 LSU men’s basketball true freshman received a pass and, when met by SMU defenders, threw a one-handed pass to the wing where Cam Carter was standing. The delivery was catchable, but had more power than Carter expected, leading to the failed outfield catch.

It was the fourth turnover for Carter and the 13th for LSU with 8:36 left in the second half. Those kinds of miscues for the Tigers were the culprit in their 74-64 loss to SMU in the Compete 4 Cause Classic at the Comerica Center in Frisco, Texas.

Matt McMahon’s unit had its four-game winning streak snapped. Jordan Sears had a game-high 21. Cam Carter, who entered the day leading the team in scoring with 17.3 points per game. game, finished with 11 on 3-of-11 shooting.

A kerfuffle helped change the fortunes of LSU (8-2) as it led 39-37 with 14:28 left in the second half.

SMU’s (9-2) 7-foot-2 freshman center Samet Yigitoglu protected the hoop, but when a foul was called on his team, he was shoved in the back by LSU freshman guard Vyctorius Miller. Yigitoglu was offended and turned to chest bump Miller. Both continued to have a barking match, and after being separated by the judges, each received a technical foul.

After that moment, SMU went on a 12-2 run after it stepped up its defense, created several live-ball turnovers and enjoyed back-to-back awe-inspiring dunks.

After having four turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game, LSU had 11 in the first 12 minutes of the second half. The Tigers finished the game with 17 turnovers to SMU’s 15.

LSU trailed by as many as 12 points after being outscored 22-6 at the start of the second half.

SMU threw the first punch of the game in an 11-0 run to take a 12-5 lead with 13:95 left in the first half. The Mustangs’ defense forced turnovers and pushed the tempo to find easy baskets.

As easily as LSU gave up a double-digit run, it built an 8-0 run soon after. It started with a Corey Chest having a putback slam after a missed layup and was closed with Chest again having a clear lane for a driving dunk at the 12:06 mark.

The Tigers faced a slower frontcourt that decided to play a deep drop defense where the screen defender stayed deep in the paint as the screens were set on the ball for LSU.

Sears benefited from this style of defense as he was able to hit several clean mid-range jumpers after a ball screen. In the first half, the University of Tennessee in Martin transfer had 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting.

LSU led 33-27 at halftime.

SMU improved its play immediately after the break. It was an 8-2 score with 17:28 left in the second half. LSU had three turnovers in a span of nearly three minutes, with two fouls coming from guard penetration too close to the hoop and bad passes inside.

The Mustangs held onto the lead even after LSU trailed just 66-63 with 1:47 left in the game.

LSU plays Stetson on Tuesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center at 8 p.m