ST. LOUIS - The LSU Tiger basketball teams comeback bid came up a couple of defensive stops short in their opening game at the SEC Tournament in St. Louis on Thursday night.

Mississippi St. led by as many as 19 points but LSU fought back in the second half to make it a one point game late, however LSU could not get a defensive stop in the final seconds and the Bulldogs beat the Tigers 80-77 to move onto the Quarterfinals against the Tennessee Volunteers.

Tiger freshman guard Tremont Waters buried a deep three in LSU's final offensive possession to give his team a chance, but MSU was able to find the gaps in the Tiger defense and advance the ball down court for a final bucket that killed the clock.

Waters led all Tigers with 28 points on 10 of 20 shooting, while playing with a broken nose he suffered in practice earlier in the week.

LSU head coach Will Wade went small with his line-up in the second half and it worked as the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs by 13 in the second half.

LSU forward Brandon Rachal had a team-high nine rebounds, and scored 10 points, tying a career-high.

The Tigers will now have to wait until Sunday night to see if they receive an invitation to the National Invitational Tournament, a second-tier postseason tournament that is played at home sites in the early rounds.