BATON ROUGE — Collis Temple III had 20 points and a career-high 14 rebounds in 30 minutes of play to lead the Tigers to their second win in three nights, 97-69, over the cross-town rival Southern University Jaguars on Monday night in the Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (2-0) shot 50.7 percent from the field (36-of-71) and had 24 assists on the evening, including eight by point guard Torris Bright in 34 minutes. Meanwhile, Southern shot only 33.8 percent from the field (26-of-77) including 29.0 percent from beyond the three-point arc (9-of-31).
Freshman Antonio Hudson came off the bench to score 19 points on 7-of-12 shooting in only 25 minutes of play, while Thomas Davis (14), Ronald Dupree (13) and Brad Bridgewater (career-high 10 points) were each in double figures for LSU.
LSU’s Xavier Whipple added nine points late in the second half.
Tim Johnson led the Jaguars (0-1) with 24 points on 9-of-14 shooting and four treys, while Brian Johnson was the only other Southern player in double figures with 18 in 40 minutes of play. He was only 7-of-27 from the field.
LSU out-rebounded the cold-shooting Jags, 57-38, while making 17-of-25 free throws (68.0 percent). LSU struggled handling the ball at some points in the game, as the Tigers racked up 19 turnovers.
LSU finished the first half at 47.2 percent (17-of-36) shooting, while Southern was 11-of-36 from the field for 30.6 percent. The Tigers were plagued by 10 turnovers in the half, while out-rebounding the Jags, 28-17. LSU’s first 16 baskets of the game were assisted.
The high flying Tigers opened up a 19-12 lead with 11:50 remaining in the first half on a pair of three-pointers and on five dunks, including three ally-oops.
As Southern continued to struggle in its fast-paced, run-and-shoot offensive against the equally as quick LSU defense, the Tigers ran out to a 34-18 lead. At the 7:07 mark of the first half, LSU was shooting 59.1 percent (13 of 22) from the field, while the Jaguars were at 28.0 percent (7 of 25) including only 1-of-12 from behind the arc.
The Jags cut the lead to 34-24 on a three pointer by Deandre Bell, however, Temple answered with his third trey of the night from the right wing to extend the lead back to 13 with 5:18 left in the half.
LSU began to cool off late in the half after taking ill-advised quick shots from the perimeter, missing six consecutive before Antonio Hudson’s jumper off the glass with four seconds left in the half.
LSU led 42-29 at the half.
After taking a 48-33 lead three minutes into the second half, LSU went on a 17-0 run including a streak when the Tigers made 5-of-6 shots and and three free throws. The Tigers led by 30, 67-37, at the 11:37 mark on a layup by Brad Bridgwater.
The Tigers maintained their shooting percentage (49.3) down the stretch and kept a 28-point lead with 2:44 to play. Point guard Xavier Whipple came off the bench to score nine points and grab a pair of rebounds in eight minutes and LSU led 88-60.
The Tigers depart for Hilo, Hawaii, and the Big Island Invitational at 4 a.m. Tuesday where they will play Weber State at 6:30 p.m. CST on Friday, Nov. 23. Hawaiian Standard Time is four hours behind Central Standard Time.