The LSU Tigers suffered their first defeat of the 2015-2016 college basketball season on Monday night, dropping an 81-80 decision to the Marquette Golden Eagles, in the semifinals of the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Marquette's Jujuan Johnson converted on two free throws with 9.1 seconds remaining, before a last second three-point attempt by LSU's Jalyn Patterson was off the mark, as the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season.

Marquette took advantage of an 0-for-5 start and four turnovers by LSU to lead 10-0 only four minutes into the contest, but LSU chipped away, and cut the deficit to 36-34 as the two teams headed to their respective locker rooms for halftime.

Leading, 45-44, at the 15:29 mark, the Golden Eagles went on a 13-7 run over the next 3:06, to extend their lead to 58-51 with 12:23 remaining.

After Marquette pushed its advantage back to nine, 75-66, with 4:45 to go, the Tigers went on a mini-run, scoring 6-unanswered points, to get within three, 75-72, at the 3:24 mark.

Trailing, 79-77, with :41 left, Josh Gray hit 1-of-2 free throws, before Ben Simmons scored on a lay-up with :21 to go, giving LSU an 80-79 advantage.

:11 later, Johnson made the two clutch free throws for Marquette, giving them the lead, and the eventual one-point win.

Marquette outshot LSU from the field, 52%/37%, while also outrebounding the Tigers, 46-40.

Luke Fischer led the way fro the Golden Eagles, finishing with 19 points and 8 rebounds.

In a losing cause for the Tigers, Ben Simmons had 21 points, 20 rebounds and seven assists to lead the way, becoming the eighth LSU player since 1973-74 to record a 20/20 game.

View the game box score.

With the victory, Marquette improved to 2-2 on the season, while LSU fell to 3-1.

The Tigers are right back in action on Tuesday afternoon in the Legends Classic, taking on North Carolina St. at 4:30 pm.

 

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