LSU shocks No. 11 Texas A&M on ridiculously deep 3-pointer
No. 11 Texas A&M dropped to 0-3 in SEC play in brutal fashion.
The Aggies led LSU 68-63 with 19 seconds to go, but the Tigers came back to win 69-68 thanks to the heroics of freshman guard Tremont Waters, who hit two deep 3-pointers in the final seconds.
Waters first cut A&M’s lead to 68-66 with a trey from Stephen Curry range with 12 seconds to go. And after getting the ball inbounds, A&M forward Tyler Davis was immediately fouled. Davis, who entered the game shooting 66 percent from the line, missed both.
That set the stage for Waters to shock the College Station crowd.
The Tigers advanced the ball and called timeout with three seconds left on the clock. The play was designed to get Waters a much better look, but it didn’t matter. Despite possibly being closer to half-court than the 3-point line, Waters, with two hands in his face, drilled the game-winner.
Waters, a true freshman, led all scorers with 21 points. He was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc, including his last three attempts that accounted for nine of his team’s final 12 points.
The win marks LSU’s first SEC win on the year after dropping a close one at home to No. 17 Kentucky.
But the bigger story is A&M. The Aggies entered conference play ranked No. 5 in the country with an 11-1 record but were without three players, including leading scorer D.J. Hogg, for road games against Alabama and Florida due to suspension. The team’s top two guards, Admon Gilder and Duane Wilson, and projected lottery pick Robert Williams have also been sidelined with injuries.
With a depleted roster, the Aggies dropped both of those games — 79-57 at Alabama and 83-66 vs. Florida. Hogg (along with J.J. Caldwell and T.J. Starks) returned Saturday and scored 12 points, but it wasn’t enough to hold off Waters and the Tigers.
With everyone on its roster available, A&M looked like a team capable of making a deep run into the NCAA tournament. Now with road games against Kentucky and No. 23 Tennessee around the corner, it is staring an 0-5 SEC start in the face.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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