No. 23 LSU falls short in 81-80 loss vs. Marquette



NEW YORK -- Jajuan Johnson hit the winning free throws with 10.8 seconds remaining and Marquette survived a frenetic finish to defeat No. 22 LSU 81-80 on Monday night in the semifinals of the Legends Classic.

Marquette will face the winner of North Carolina State and Arizona State in Tuesday's championship game.

LSU (2-1) freshman Ben Simmons collected 21 points and 20 rebounds in front of 51 NBA scouts and gave the Tigers their only lead at 80-79 with a reverse layup with 21.5 seconds remaining.

But Johnson knocked down the two free throws and Josh Gray missed a 3-pointer as time expired.

Luke Fischer led four players in double figures with 19 points for Marquette (2-2). Henry Ellenson was among three Golden Warriors with 16 points along with Johnson and Duane Wilson.

Simmons shot 6 of 14 and made 9 of 11 free throws as LSU shot 37 percent from the floor. Tim Quarterman scored 20 points while Antonio Blankeney added 14.

The Golden Eagles were up 67-59 when Fischer picked up his fourth foul with 8:38 remaining. They took a 72-63 lead on a 3-pointer by Wilson with about six minutes remaining and regained the nine-point lead nearly two minutes later when Ellenson hit an open 3-pointer.

Marquette's lead was cut to 75-72 when Quarterman rebounded a miss by Josh Gray and converted a layup with 3:36 remaining. It was cut to 78-77 a little over two minutes later when Gray had a steal and drove in for a layup, setting up the wild finish.

Simmons had a few highlight plays in the first half. He soared through the defense for a thunderous one-handed dunk with about 4 1/2 minutes remaining and also made a nifty bounce pass to Blankeney for a layup earlier in the half.

Marquette scored the first 10 points while the Tigers missed their first five shots. Simmons had eight points and eight rebounds at halftime as LSU trailed 36-35.

TIP-INS:

LSU: Center Elbert Robinson III played although he sprained his left ankle in the second half of Thursday's win over South Alabama. He barely played as a freshman, appearing in only four games but is averaging eight points and four rebounds through three games. ... Simmons is not the only Australian on the roster. Center Darcy Malone is from Canberra and has international experience playing for his country.

Marquette: Faced LSU for the fourth time. The last two were home games while the first was in the 1970 NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden. The Golden Eagles won that game by 21 and beat St. John's for the 1970 NIT championship. ... Johnson suffered a bloody nose when he got fouled on a layup with 15:10 remaining and was unable to take the free throw. He returned about two minutes later.