Well that was disappointing.
LSU (8-1) took its first real test of the 2025-26 college basketball season and failed miserably, getting walloped by #19 Texas Tech 82-58 in Fort Worth as part of the US LBM
Coast to Coast Challenge (whatever that is).
The best part of the day were the first 43 seconds in which the game was tied 0-0. After that, Texas Tech led for the remaining 39:12 of the game. Once the Red Raiders went up 12 points with 12:39 to play in the first half they never allowed LSU to get within single digits. The second half was a complete formality. Tech’s second half lead never slipped below 17 points, and the only question of the half was how lopsided would the final score be.
LSU shot 25 percent from the floor in the first half and hit just 2 of 13 attempts from three. Dedan Thomas had a rough go of things, needing 14 shots to score 13 points, and had three turnovers to just one assist. Max Mackinnon was 0-9 from the floor, while Michael Nwoko and Pablo Tamba were limited to just 22 and 20 minutes respectively because each player picked up four fouls.
Tech’s Chris Anderson was the best player on the floor Sunday afternoon with a game-high 27 points, 8 assists, and 5 rebounds. LeJuan Watts and Jaylen Petty combined to give Texas Tech 26 points off the bench and Texas Tech out-rebounded the Tigers by 15.
Now let’s be fair to LSU: Texas Tech has been one of the better programs in the nation over the past decade. Since the 2018 Tournament, the Red Raiders have made two Elite 8s and played for the national championship. LSU came into this game at 8-0 and were probably feeling really good about themselves, but the Tigers haven’t seen a team as good as Tech up until this point and the Red Raiders showed LSU the difference in a Quad 1 team versus a Quad 3 or 4 team.
So…is this one game or a sign of things to come once conference play starts? Hard to tell, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just a tad bit concerned. It’s not that LSU lost to Texas Tech, it’s that they weren’t competitive. One loss to a ranked team doesn’t mean LSU’s doomed to yet another 3-15 season in SEC play, but look at who LSU’s played versus who they’ll have to play later in the year: there’s way more teams on the schedule that are gonna look like Texas Tech than Boston College or FIU.
LSU will have the rest of the week off before heading to New Orleans for a Sunday night game against SMU in the Smoothie King Center. That game will be carried on the SEC Network, with tipoff scheduled for 7:30.
