| LSU's hopes for a losing streak-busting victory Wednesday night over visiting Texas A&M looked like the proverbial slim and none, with none limping to the locker room with Tigers forward Tari Eason with just under seven minutes to go. LSU was already again without injured point guard Xavier Pinson and forward Darius Days. How were they to survive this? Somehow, they did, closing out the Aggies 9-0 over the game's final 78 seconds to pull out a desperately vital 70-64 victory in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The win, propelled by 21 points off the bench from Brandon Murray and 16 from Eric Gaines, put end to LSU's three-game losing streak and allowed the No. 19-ranked Tigers to improve to 16-4 and 4-4 in SEC play. Texas A&M fell to 15-5 and 4-3. Compounding the good news for LSU was the fact coach Will Wade said afterward that Eason merely cramped up late in the game, requiring an IV that kept him off the court for the final 6:53. Eason still finished with 14 points and a game-best nine rebounds. The win gives some uplift to LSU's previously sagging NCAA Tournament projections. You can check out the pregame prognostications here. In football news, with a week to go until the start of the spring signing period the Tigers picked up another transfer in All-Big 12 cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse from Oklahoma State. And check out this slightly amusing story (only now is it amusing) with former LSU great Ja'Marr Chase telling the tale of how former LSU coach Les Miles once told him he couldn't play wide receiver in college. The 2019 Biletnikoff Award winner is now also playing receiver at a fairly impressive clip for the Cincinnati Bengals heading into Sunday's AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Turning back to basketball, the No. 12 LSU women's team tries to get back on the winning track Thursday at Arkansas. And both basketball programs can count McDonald's All-Americans among this year's signing class: Flau'jae Johnson for the women and Julian Phillips for the men. And there is some off the court news as well, as LSU's athletic department deals with a $9.62 million deficit for 2021 and LSU assistant athletic director Sharon Lewis is out as her lawsuits against her now former employer work through the courts. That's all for now. Please support our work by subscribing to one of our three print editions — The Advocate, The Times-Picayune or the Acadiana Advocate — or online at TheAdvocate.com or NOLA.com. Until next time, The LSU beat team (Scott Rabalais, Sheldon Mickles, Wilson Alexander and Leah Vann) | 
