Anthony Hickey lifts LSU over Mississippi St. in OT 69-67

BATON ROUGE, La. — Anthony Hickey made only two of seven shots for four points in regulation against Mississippi State, setting him up nicely to deal the Bulldogs a stunning blow in the final seconds of overtime.

Hickey hit a driving floater in the paint with 1.4 seconds left in the extra session, lifting LSU to a 69-67 victory over the Bulldogs on Tuesday night.

"We are starting to build a family on this team," Hickey said. "We are starting to have faith and dig deep. I give credit to our whole team for this win."

Ralston Turner led LSU (15-10, 4-5 Southeastern Conference) with 17 points, but nearly cost the Tigers the game with a turnover that put Brian Bryant on the foul line with 11 seconds left. Bryant made only one free throw to tie it at 67, however, taking pressure off LSU as it set up the final shot.

Justin Hamilton scored 14 points for the Tigers, who have won two straight, while Storm Warren added 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Dee Bost had 15 points and Rodney Hood 14 for the Bulldogs (19-7, 6-5), who've lost two straight for the first time all season, both on late shots by freshman guards in overtime.

Renardo Sidney added 13 points for Mississippi State, which fell out of the AP Top 25 after losing to Georgia 70-68 in overtime on Saturday. In that game, it was Kentavious Caldwell-Pope whose lack of experience didn't seem to inhibit him from taking — and making — a game-winner.

At least Caldwell-Pope also was Georgia's leading scorer against the Bulldogs. Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury seemed more mystified that his team would be done in by Hickey after the Bulldogs had held him in check for nearly the entire game.

"He was not a factor in this game," Stansbury said. "He made two plays. I thought we did a great job on him all game."

Arnett Moultrie had 10 points and 11 rebounds for the Bulldogs, who started 4 of 7 from 3-point range and led by as many as 17 in the first half, but made only 2 of 11 from deep the rest of the way. Mississippi State also turned the ball over 21 times, leading to 18 LSU points.

"We blew the game," Bost said. "We gave it up, so all we can do is blame ourselves."

The Bulldogs outrebounded LSU 43-32 but LSU came up with some big rebounds in the clutch.

Warren's 10th rebound on a miss by Hickey led to his ninth and 10th points on a pair of free throws that gave LSU a 65-63 lead with 1:10 left in overtime.

Hickey, who scored half of his eight points in overtime, pushed the Tigers' lead to four on a driving floater off the glass with 22 seconds remaining, but Sidney hit a 3 with 12.2 seconds left and then Turner overthrew Hamilton on the next inbound pass, allowing Bryant to snag the ball and quickly draw a foul on a drive to the hoop, setting up the dramatic finish.

"We had some miscues early and a lot of things that were uncharacteristic," Turner said. "We did a good job of putting it behind us and just kept fighting to see if we could make a game out of it."

LSU scored the first seven points of the second half to tie the game at 36 and complete a 23-6 run that had started late in the opening half.

Sidney later scored six points on a short jumper, tip-in and layup during a 10-1 Mississippi State run that put the Bulldogs back up 46-37, but LSU once again responded, this time with a 13-2 run, vaulting in front 54-50 on consecutive baskets by Warren.

Bryant tied it with four straight points on a driving floater and a steal that he converted in a soaring fast-break one-handed jam, and Mississippi State twice took two-point leads in the final minutes, with Hamilton tying the game each time for LSU.