After kicking off the second edition of the Will Wade era at LSU on Tuesday, the Tigers returned to the court for a Friday night bout with Texas Southern.
Despite being overly matched on paper, TSU came out fighting. They battled Wade’s Tigers from the very jump, even holding a lead for the first few minutes of the game. They were active on the boards and were out-rebounding LSU early on.
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That could only last so long, though, as the Tigers began to wake up. Skyy Clark’s layup at the 14:26 mark of the first half tied the game and kicked off a 13-0 run and LSU would never look back.
Just before halftime, they also ripped off a 10-0 run to help jump out to a 47-28 lead. That run included 8 free throws, 5 of which were from emerging star, Saliou Niang. The Italian led the team in scoring at the break with 11 points. His 3 of 4 shooting from the field aided a solid 56.7% shooting percentage through the first 20 minutes.
LSU shot even better in the second half, connecting from 57.6%. Coming out of the locker room, the effort and execution was far better, overall.
Abdi Bashir Jr was a catalyst in the second half, shooting 4 for 8, all from beyond the 3-point line. His 12 points in the second half led the Tigers. He was pivotal, considering LSU shot 1-13 from beyond the arc outside of Bashir.
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After a rough first half, including 0-4 from the free throw line, Mo Dioubate stepped up for 10 points and 5 rebounds in the final 20 minutes.
Much like Tuesday, the stars of the show were the trio of Niang, Donovan Dent, and Michael Ruzic.
Niang finished with 15 points, including 11 rebounds to complete his second double-double in as many games. On a night which the big men struggled at the free throw line, he finished 7-8, taking everything Texas Southern gave him. After a 6 steal performance against LSUNO, Niang recorded another 3 on Friday night.
Dent, also, recorded his second double-double of the year, finishing with 10 points and 10 assists. Through two games, that’s now 20 assists without a single turnover for the 5th-year senior. He’s the clear leader in the backcourt and his ability to facilitate the offense will be big for LSU on a nightly basis.
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Finally, Ruzic came off of the bench for another stellar performance. His 12 points and 11 rebounds gave him his first double-double of the season. This was the second straight time that he out-performed Brice Dessert, so it will be interesting to see if Wade swaps the two and inserts Ruzic in to the starting lineup for the next game.
Although Texas Southern was battling early, LSU took over in the paint. Despite only leading the rebounding category 21-15 at halftime, the Tigers finished with a 50-29 advantage. They also blocked 8 shots.
For Texas Southern, Jason Kimbrough Jr was the only player to reach double figures with 16 points. He was excellent, shooting 50% from the field, including 4-7 from beyond the arc. Karris Bilal had a rough night for his Tigers, shooting 2-16.
While neither of the first two games have been significant tests for LSU, they’re still taking care of business and doing what they should be doing to inferior opponents. With a big matchup against Gonzaga coming next weekend, cleaning up these early performances is paramount.
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Up next
The Tigers will remain home to welcome in Louisiana Tech on Monday evening. The Bulldogs are also 2-0 and will be coming in hot off of a 76-17 blowout of Arkansas-Monticello on Thursday night. Tip off is scheduled for 7 pm central.
