By Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE — With a relentless, 40-minute effort, LSU marveled a crowd of nearly 14,000 with a dunk-filled, rush-the-court, 86-60, victory over the fifth-ranked Arizona Wildcats here Saturday afternoon.
LSU’s bench made a tremendous contribution to the game, silencing critics with clutch shots and great defense while filling if for foul-troubled Torris Bright and Brian Beshara.
Head coach John Brady was ecstatic about his teams performance.
“From this coaching staffs perspective, this is the greatest win in LSU history.We handled the fifth rank team in the country who beat the number one ranked team in Stanford. This was huge for us”, said Brady. “Im excited for the student body, that they got to experience a game of this type.”
Stromile Swift had an outstanding game, scoring 29 points. He also added nine rebounds and four blocks. In an interview Friday at practice Swift predicted that he would score at least 25 points, and grab at least 15 rebounds.
“We had fun. We just wanted to come out and play hard”, explained Swift. “The best part was the fans. The way they crashed the court after the game. It was exciting.”
Collis Temple III played very well at the point guard position for the Tigers, playing 23 minutes due to starting point guard Torris Brights foul troubles. Bright only played eight minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, and then was held to nine minutes in the second half after picking up his fourth trying to block a three-point basket.
The biggest key to the Tigers’ success was the clamp down on the two star Arizona guards. Jason Gardner and Gilbert Arenas were held to a combined 17 points on six for 20 shooting. LSU off guard Lamont Roland was most responsible for the good defense on the guards.
Early in the game the Tigers simply made big plays. The kind of plays that beat big time teams. Roland proved his worth early on with two big baskets. He penetrated the lane for one score and then he nailed a three pointer giving him five early points. Then Torris Bright would find Jabari Smith open on the baseline with a no look pass. Smith slammed it home tying the game at 5-5.
LSU forward Brian Beshara, coming off his 23 point night against Arkansas, found his rhythm again and nailed a three pointer giving the Tigers an 8-5 lead with 17:05 remaining in the first half.
The Tigers were able to get the ball inside to the post consistently all game long. Swift found Smith inside on a nice bounce pass that led to a Smith basket. This started a 22-4 run at the 10:30 mark that LSU made going into half-time. Besharas hot shooting along with Smith and Swift’s dominating presence over Arizonas Alex Wright and Loren Woods aided in the run.
The play that really iced the LSU victory was the final play of the first half. Roland stole the ball away from Gardner and found Smith on the break away. Smith converted a fake pass behind the back and power slam giving LSU momentum going into the locker room with a 38-21 lead.
The second half was more of the same for the Tigers. The big boys inside were too much for Arizona to handle. Swift scored 19 second-half points.
LSU reserves Ronald Dupree and Jermaine Williams both played well in the second half helping to put away Arizona very early.
LSU returns to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Mississippi State, beginning a 10-game Southeastern Conference tilt to end the season.