LSU basketball can't complete rally vs North Texas, eliminated in first round of NIT
BATON ROUGE — LSU basketball had its season end Tuesday as the Tigers (17-16) fell to the North Texas Mean Green (19-14) in the first round of the NIT.
Tuesday night's game was competitive for most of the first half, with the two teams tied as late as the under-8 media timeout. However, North Texas went on a run once the teams returned to play, quickly stretching the lead to double digits.
Instead another comeback like LSU has been known for this season, the Tigers found themselves unable to escape the hole. When LSU made a shot or two, the Mean Green responded with a run of its own. And when the Tigers did rally and force a North Texas timeout, LSU was unable to cut the deficit by much on its way to an 84-77 loss.
Can't complete comeback
As has been common throughout the season, the Tigers fell into another double-digit deficit in the first half on Tuesday. The Mean Green took an 11-point lead with about two minutes to go in the half, and although LSU cut the lead to four points at one time, the Tigers were unable to get it closer than that. In the opening minutes of the second, UNT stretched the lead to as many as 18 before LSU was able to significantly attempt a comeback. When the Tigers did, though, they cut it to five points with under a minute remaining.
Jordan Wright's final send-off
Wright is a Baton Rouge native, but played his first four college seasons at Vanderbilt. After transferring to LSU this season, he quickly established himself as a star, playing in every game this season and starting all but one.
In the final game of his Tigers career, Wright finished with 25 points — including 18 in the second half — his fifth 20-point game of the season.
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Will Baker can't repeat performance
In one of his first games as a Tiger, fifth-year senior center Will Baker led the team with 16 points in a victory over the Mean Green in November. Unlike that game, though, Baker found himself benched for long stretches of time on Tuesday in favor of Hunter Dean. Baker finished the game — and his collegiate career — with just five points on 2-of-5 shooting, and was actually outplayed by Dean, who finished his college career with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting and five rebounds.
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This article originally appeared on The Courier: LSU basketball falls to North Texas, eliminated in first round of NIT
