Cam Carter rejected the screen and gave a legal push-off to a defender who embellished the contact with no foul called.

The LSU senior swished a pull-up 3-pointer from 25 feet from the right wing. Carter trotted back on defense with an extra bounce in his step, trimming the deficit to one point after six minutes in his team’s first-round matchup against 10th-seeded Mississippi State in the SEC Tournament on Wednesday night in Nashville, Tennessee.

This positive moment for the 15th-seeded LSU was not a sign of more lovely shotmaking to come. After Carter’s first 3-pointer, his scoring was erratic, making just one of his next eight field-goal attempts.

SEC LSU Miss ST Basketball

LSU guard Cam Carter shoots against Mississippi State forward KeShawn Murphy during the second half of their SEC Tournament game on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

 ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO BY WADE PAYNE

As the team’s leading scorer, Carter and LSU (14-18) stumbled, losing 91-62 to Mississippi State (21-11). This was the third-most points the Tigers allowed and the second-biggest loss this season.

The lopsided defeat was not all Carter's fault. The Tigers guard finished with 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting, six rebounds and a career-high seven turnovers. This was a teamwide unraveling where poor offense, shooting 39% overall, bled into its defense.

LSU scored easily in the beginning, starting 5 of 8 from the field. The most improbable score during this stretch was a contested end-of-shot-clock 3-pointer near the top of the key by Jordan Sears, who had 20 points and five steals.

While LSU was shooting 53% from the field with a little less than nine minutes left in the first half, it was still down 26-19. The Tigers trailed because they lost the field-goal attempt battle. Their four-guard lineup failed to limit second-chance opportunities early. LSU also forfeited possessions because of a combination of the Bulldogs' defensive pressure and some carelessness.

Mississippi State finished with 11 more shot attempts and forced 15 LSU turnovers.

Contested shots from Carter and Sears kept the score close initially but it wasn’t a winning formula. The current iteration of LSU has a minimal margin for error especially, without Vyctorius Miller and Corey Chest.

LSU entered the game 121st in offensive rating on KenPom for a reason, the worst among SEC teams. Its tough buckets tapered off and it rarely generated any uncontested looks.

Carter was guarded tightly and outside of freshman Robert Miller, who had 14 points on 6 of 7 shooting, no other player could find breathing room for easy shots.

The Tigers' issues were most clearly personified in the final 10:04 of the first half when they mustered only three points and made no field goals.

LSU battled hard early in the second half to cut the deficit to 11 points. That effort was fruitless in a four-minute span when Mississippi State scored 17 unanswered, taking a 68-40 lead with 10:52 left in the game.

While LSU’s scoring confidence appeared to dissipate with each miss, the Bulldogs seemed to get more empowered.

Star guard Josh Hubbard had 26 points, making half of his 12 3-pointers. The  rest of the roster defended with intensity and played with a freedom where it seemed it could score every time down the court. Mississippi State shot 58% from the field and 61% from 3-point range in the second half.

Mississippi State feasted on a disorganized defense, converting multiple alley-oop plays and made a season-high 15 3-pointers.

The Bulldogs, who led by as many as 33 points, had 10 players make at least two field goals. LSU had only five and went 13 of 26 from the free-throw line.

It’s not known yet if the Tigers will have more basketball ahead this season in the NIT. Coach Matt McMahon said after the game the program hasn’t thought about that.

If this was LSU team’s final game of the 2024-25 season, the offensive deficiencies will be linger.

Email Toyloy Brown III at toyloy.brown@theadvocate.com