BATON ROUGE- Stromile Swift scored 21 points and the LSU Tigers overcame a sluggish start to beat Howard University, 81-55, Monday night at the Maravich Assembly Center.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 11-0, becoming one of only five LSU men’s basketball teams to ever jump out to as many wins to open the season.
Reggie Morris, who led the Howard Bison (0-7) with a game-high 22, threw in a runner in the lane to tie the game at 47-47 with just over 10 minutes remaining in regulation, but the Tigers took over from there.
Swift hit a lay-up on a feed from Jabari Smith with 9:51 remaining, beginning an 18-0 run that put the game out of reach for the Tigers. Swift and Smith combined for 14 of the 18 points during the run, as the Tigers finally took advantage of their tremendous size advantage over the Bison.
Despite a deceiving record, Howard proved a formidable opponent and LSU struggled to the locker room with a three-point advantage at the half, 31-28. Morris scored 14 of his points in the first half.
After shooting just 44 percent in the opening half, the Tigers turned it up, shooting a scorching 64 percent in the second half, as the Tigers had four players reach double figures for the fourth straight outing.
Brian Beshara scored 10 of his 17 points in the first half, while Lamont Roland chipped in with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Smith added 11 points and 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.
Freshman point guard Torris Bright, fresh off a 20-point outing against Nicholls State, distributed the ball to near perfection, dishing out 11 assists, while committing only one turnover.
While the Tigers turned it up offensively in the second half, they tightened things up defensively as well. Howard shot 44 percent in the first half and was limited to just 32 percent on 9-28 shooting in the second half.
LSU held a significant edge in rebounding, hauling in 43 boards to just 25 for Howard. The Tigers out-rebounded the Bison by an overwhelming 24-10 in the second half.
“At halftime were 19-15, then we finished the game 43-25 on the glass,” said LSU head coach John Brady. “We decided to defend and came out and rebounded the ball. That made the difference in the game.”
Off to their best start since the 1985-86 season, the Tigers get their biggest challenge of the season on Thursday evening at 9 p.m. with a showdown against 11th-ranked Oklahoma State in New Orleans. The game is part of the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic and is the second game of a double-header. Kentucky and Missouri will collide at 7 p.m.