BATON ROUGE — Four Tigers scored in double figures including Ronald Dupree’s second straight double-double performance — 13 points, 13 rebounds — while the defense forced the Czech Select All-Stars into 25 turnovers on the way to an 85-51 exhibition victory on Monday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Collis Temple III led LSU with 18 points, while Brad Bridgewater scored 15 and had eight rebounds before fouling out with less than four minutes to play. Antonio Hudson joined Dupree with 13 points. LSU shot 48.4 (31-of-64) percent from the field while holding the Czechs to 40.0 percent (18-of-45).
Point guard Torris Bright had six assists to lead the Tigers.
However, in the win the Tigers were again struck with the injury bug as reserve sophomore guard JueMichael Young played just eight minutes early before leaving with a foot injury. Halftime x-rays revealed a fracture of the fifth metatarsal on his left foot, an injury that will likely sideline him from four to six weeks.
LSU opened an 12-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game as Bridgewater made 3-of-4 shots underneath and Williams got two dunks on fast breaks, the first coming on a Torris Bright assist off the glass.
On only their fourth shot of the game, Tomas Grepl hit a three-pointer from the left wing to put the Czech Select All-Stars on the board at the 15:30 mark of the first half. However, Temple matched the shot with one of his own from the left wing to put LSU up, 15-3.
LSU extended its lead to 15, 23-8, on a fast break bucket by Ronald Dupree off a pass from Bright. After being called for carrying the ball while reversing his dribble, Otakar Marek slammed the ball to the court and was whistled for a technical foul. However, the Tigers were only able to get one point out of the possession.
The Tigers maintained a 28-14 lead at the 6:21 mark when Dupree drove the lane and hit Jason Wilson under the basket for a hard fought lay up.
With 4:35 remaining, Temple stole the ball and worked his way through three defenders all the way to the backboard. Although he missed the acrobatic attempt, Dupree was there to follow with a towering dunk. Bridgewater then put back a missed free throw by Thomas Davis to put the Tigers up 33-16 with under four minutes to play in the half.
“I thought in the first half that we did what was necessary,” said LSU coach John Brady. “We controlled the game, but I wasn’t pleased with how we played in the second half defensively, although they made a few tough shots. It’s hard to keep that kind of game like you would like it to be. The first 15 minutes were pretty good, then we came out in the second half and did some good things for the first five minutes, then we didn’t play defensively like I would have liked for us to do for the rest of the game.”
Temple and Antonio Hudson combined to force a turnover at the top of the key, leading to another throw-down one-handed jam by Temple and a 39-16 lead.
The Tigers led 44-18 after shooting 50 percent in the first half.
The two teams combined to make only two of their first 11 shots in the second half, as LSU extended the lead to 49-18 with 16:18 to play. LSU began to heat up from the field, as the Tigers hit their next four shots from the field including threes from Temple and Dupree. LSU extended the lead to 59-25 with 11:49 to play.
Hudson scored on back-to-back pull up jumpers including a three pointer from the left wing, before dishing to a cutting Temple for a lay up and a foul. Temple missed the free throw but Wilson was there for the put back.
LSU led 68-31.
The Czech All-Stars went on an 11-2 run with three three-pointers to cut into the LSU lead, 70-39. However, Bridgewater converted a three-point play for his 13th point of the contest.
The Tigers open the regular season Saturday night against the Campbell Camels at 7 p.m. in the Assembly Center. Tickets are on sale all week at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office.