LSU loses to Pittsburgh, dropping first game of Greenbriar Classic

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, West Virginia – Pittsburgh used a 13-0 run out of the dressing room to start the second half of play and went on to score a 74-63 victory over the LSU Tigers Friday afternoon in the opening game of the Greenbrier Tipoff Classic at Colonial Hall at The Greenbrier.

The Tigers (4-1) will play UCF, a loser to Wisconsin, on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT.

In a grinder of a first half in which neither team really was able to get a lot of offensive flow in the first 16 minutes, the Tigers rallied from five down in the final 3:21 to take the lead.

Trailing 25-20, Derek Fountain hit a three-pointer to cut the margin to two and then after a Pittsburgh miss, Vyctorius Miller hit a jumper to tie the game at 25-25 with 1:38 to play. Pittsburgh retook the lead 20 seconds later before Jalen Reed hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 27-27 with 43 seconds to play.

That looked to be how the first half would end, but a Pittsburgh player got a technical foul with seven seconds left and Cam Carter made one free throw to give the Tigers a 28-27 advantage.

“It was a grind it out, nasty game,” said LSU Coach Matt McMahon. “Obviously the first half was really ugly. I thought our guys competed at a high level. Just too many mistakes as far as turnovers and then we’ll talk about the start of the second-half. We just couldn’t score the ball whether it was threes or at the rim. I mean Pittsburgh defense certainly had something to do with that, but we really struggled to score there in an 8-to-10-minute stretch that cost us.”

Starting the second half, Jaland Lowe hit a three-pointer and then Ishmael Leggett got a steal and a layup to push the Pittsburgh lead to four, 32-28. LSU failed to score and that led to a dunk by Cameron Corhen that forced LSU to call a timeout, down 34-28, with 18:47 to play.

LSU was unable to answer back, missing three field goal attempts and two free throws to go with a turnover as Pittsburgh pushed the lead to 40-28 with 15:46 to play.

““They were the aggressor I thought coming out of the break,” said Coach McMahon. “Turnovers and I thought we had a couple opportunities at the rim that we didn’t finish and it was 13-0 run if I’m not mistaken and it wasn’t like it happened in 2 minutes. It was over an extended period. We just couldn’t score and so you saw there were some trade-offs. I think we scored four points and so we went with a four-guard lineup to try and space the floor and find some different ways to score. I thought it helped us get some baskets. Vyctorius Miller was terrific for us in the second half. He opened up some space for Jalen down in the post but then you saw there were also some tradeoffs on our defense.”

The Tigers continued to fight and again found room to operate inside as a Jordan Sears layup cut the Pittsburgh lead to five, 43-38, with still 10:52 to play. The Panthers would move it back to double figures before LSU made a final run to cut the game to four at 56-52 on a free throw by Vyctorius Miller and then a layup by Dji Bailey that made it 58-54 with 5:41 to play.

“We were able to get in a rhythm a few times this game,” said Reed in the post-game media session. “I think we’re a team that can take care of the ball better and I that that’ll be the difference, but when we had it going, I felt like it was going good.”

Reed and Vyctorius Miller had 14 points each to lead LSU with Carter getting 11 points. Reed was 6-of-10 from the field, hitting his only three-point attempt with a free throw. Lowe had 22 points with four treys to lead Pittsburgh (6-0) with Leggett scoring 21 points. Corhen added 14 and Zach Austin 10 points.

LSU shot 22-of-59 for the game (37.8%), with five made three-pointers and 14-of-20 from the free throw line. Pitt shot 64 percent in the second half (14-22) and finished the game 24-of-54 (44.4 percent). The Panthers made seven treys and was 19-of-22 at the line.

Pitt out rebounded LSU, 36-35, and had a 34-30 advantage in paint points. LSU scored on 29-of-70 possessions, while Pitt cashed in on 33-of-64. LSU turned the ball over 20 times, but Pittsburgh was only able to get 11 points off turnovers. LSU had 12 points off the 13 Pittsburgh turnovers.

“I feel like a lot of our turnovers were more on us than them,” said Reed. “I feel like a lot of the turnovers were careless but we’re a better team than that and I feel like we’ll take care of the ball better moving forward.”

“I really like their team and I think they’re a team that will play deep into March,” said Coach McMahon. “They’re experienced, tough, physical. I thought Jaland Lowe showed today why a lot of people think he’s a first round NBA pick at the point guard position. I thought him and Leggett being able to play all 40 minutes and scored 22 and 21 respectively was key for them.”

Sunday’s game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network affiliates and televised on CBS Sports Network.

*LSU press release