BATON ROUGE, La. — Tarleton State Men's Basketball finished their two-game opening road trip with a 96-60 loss to LSU at the Maravich Center in LSU's season opener on Wednesday night.

The Texans (0-2) led briefly early on, but the Tigers (1-0) controlled the majority of the game. A full crowd of 6,252 filled the Maravich Center on LSU's opening night of the season.

"Tonight, we weren't even close to being organized," said head coach Billy Gillispie postgame. "We didn't compete, giving up 96 points. We didn't play with enough passion and desire tonight."

Kade Douglas led the Texans in scoring, torching the nets for 19. He made a Texan season-best four triples and shot six-for-12 from the floor. He also tallied an assist and was a perfect three-for-three from the free throw line.

The NCAA's Division I active career free throw leader, Freddy Hicks shot five-for-eight from the line. He was one of four Texans to score in double figures, totaling 12. He made his first triple of the season while playing a game-high 37 minutes. Matyas Vrabel saw his first action of the season and scored 10. The 2025 GLIAC Freshman of the Year grabbed five boards and shot four-for-seven from the field. AJ Dent Jr. also added 10 points while connecting on a pair of three-pointers. Hicks, Vrabel and Chris Mpaka tied for a team high with five boards each.

The Texans started the scoring in another offensive-heavy first half. Mpaka scored the first bucket for the Purple and White. Three-straight points for Hicks gave the Texans a 5-3 lead. But the lead was the last of the night for Tarleton State. LSU responded with a 10-1 run to distance themselves from the Texans. Vrabel drove the lane to pick up the and-one opportunity for his first points as a Texan to cut the deficit to five, 13-8.

Hicks connected for his first three-pointer of the season with 14 minutes left to bring the Purple and White within five yet again. The Tigers jumped out on a 9-0 run to take a 14-point advantage. Kade Douglas made his first triple of the evening with 9:19 to go in the half. With 8:25 left on the clock while scrambling for a rebound, Mpaka was called for a flagrant two foul and subsequently ejected from the game.

In the final five minutes of the half, Dent Jr. caught fire. He drilled his first three as a Texan to get on the board. After Douglas knocked down his second triple of the half, Dent drove the lane for a bucket of his own. On the next possession he nailed his second three-pointer in less than three minutes to give him eight points in just six minutes of action. LSU scored the final bucket of the half to send the game into the break with the Tigers leading by 16, 47-31.

The Texans were unable to pose a threat to the Tigers in the second half. LSU knocked down the first four points of the second 20 minutes. Douglas started the second half scoring effort with a bucket of his own. After Hicks notched his first points of the second half, the Tigers ran seven-straight to boost their lead to 25.

Vrabel sparked a 6-0 response for the Texans with a basket down in the paint. On the next possession, Leroy Kelly IV swiped a steal and turned it into a fast-break layup on the other end. The Texans grabbed another turnover on the next possession, with Hicks stealing and errant pass. Dent turned it into two with his first points in the second half.

Just past the halfway point of the second half, Douglas caught fire. He started his scoring run with a pair of made freebies. Then on the next possession, he drained his third triple of the contest and his first of the second half. A few minutes later, he sunk his team-best fourth triple of the night. But he wasn't done yet. Douglas then came down and made the layup and drew the foul for an and-on opportunity. After he made the free throw, it capped his 11 consecutive points  for the Texans streak

The Tigers shot 70.2 percent from the field, connecting on 33 of their 47 attempts. The Texans shot 32.2 percent from the floor, making 20 of their 62 shots. For the second-straight game, the Texans made seven threes, with the Tigers making eight. LSU won the battle of the boards, 39-21. Tarleton State won the turnover battle forcing 15 while committing only nine.

The Texans return to Stephenville for their home opener on Saturday night at the EECU Center. Tarleton State will host Texas A&M – Corpus Christi with tip-off slated for 6 p.m.