MONTEGO BAY, Jamaica – Sam Merrill's three-pointer with 57 seconds remaining proved to be the winning bucket that allowed No. 15 Utah State to escape the Montego Bay Convention Centre with an 80-78 victory over LSU at the Jersey Mike's Jamaica Classic Friday night.
The Tigers fell to 3-2 and will play again on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. CT against Rhode Island, a winner Friday over North Texas in the event. Utah State is now 6-0 on the year.
Utah State rallied from 19 points down in the second half to tie the game at 71-71 with 4:11 to play. The teams then traded three-pointers to put the game at 74-74.
USU took its first lead of the game at 76-74 on a fast break bucket by Justin Bean after an LSU turnover. Bean was fouled and the Aggies lead was 77-74 with 3:01 to play.
Skylar Mays drove for a layup to cut it to 77-76 on the next possession and after a steal, Mays was fouled and went to the line for two free throws to give LSU the lead back, 78-77, with 2:21 to play.
Utah State missed a three and got the offensive rebound, but subsequently lost the ball out-of-bounds. The Tigers came down and got a good look from outside the arc, but the shot missed as the game moved inside 90 seconds.
The Aggies called timeout and on the ensuing possession, Merrill hit the shot that would be the final points of the game.
LSU still had plenty of time, but the Tigers missed a shot with 42 seconds to play. USU rebounded and LSU elected to play the possession out with Alphonso Anderson missing a three with 13 seconds left. Mays rebounded but the Tigers were unable to get a shot on the final possession.
