Murray scores 21, No. 19 LSU rallies past Texas A&M 70-64

Wed, Jan 26, 2022
NCAAB News (AP)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Brandon Murray capped a 21-point performance with a pair of clutch free throws in the final minute, and No. 19 LSU outscored Texas A&M 13-2 in the last 3:34 to beat the Aggies 70-64 on Wednesday night and snap a three-game skid.

The Aggies, who lost to LSU for the ninth straight time, looked poise to seize control when Quenton Jackson's layup gave them a 62-57 lead with 3:45 left.

But LSU (16-4, 4-4 Southeastern Conference) battled back and tied it at 64 when Mwani Wilkinson hit a 3 from the left corner on his first shot of the game with 1:18 to go.

Aggies guard Marcus Williams then missed a jumper, and Jackson and Andre Gordon each missed put-back chances in the paint before Murray grabbed the rebound for LSU with 37 seconds left.

After Eric Gaines gave LSU the lead with two free throws, he blocked Williams at the rim. The long rebound went straight to Tyrece Radford, but he missed a 3 for the lead and Murray all but sealed the game with his free throws. Gaines added two more free throws for the final margin and finished with 16 points.

Jackson scored 20 points for Texas A&M (15-5, 4-3), which lost its third straight. Gordon scored 18 points and Radford, a Baton Rouge native, added 14 points.

Tari Eason had 14 points and nine rebounds for LSU in his first start of the season.

Neither team led by more than six points in a game that included 11 lead changes and 10 ties.

Gordon got off to a blazing start for the Aggies, hitting five of his first seven shots, including three from deep, for 13 points. His soaring put-back dunk gave A&M a brief 27-25 lead.

Murray scored 10 of his points in the opening 20 minutes, hitting a pair of early 3s to help Tigers close when the Aggies looked poised to go on an early run.

LSU matched its largest first-half advantage when Gaines' free throw made it 34-30 entering the final minute.

BIG PICTURE

Texas A&M: Hasn't won at LSU since 2017 and fell to 2-14 all-time in Baton Rouge. That streak might have ended if the Aggies hadn't missed their last six shots.

LSU: Overcame the absence of considerable experience and production with senior guard Xavier Pinson (10.9 points per game) missing his fifth straight game with a knee sprain and senior forward Darius Days (13.5 ppg) missing his first game this season. Coach Will Wade remains unbeaten against A&M and avoided what would have been LSU's first four-game losing streak since he was hired before the 2018 season.

UP NEXT

Texas A&M: Hosts South Carolina on Saturday night.

LSU: Visits TCU on Saturday as part of the Big12/SEC Challenge.

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