ATLANTA (AP) — Glen Davis scored 24 points and LSU raced to a 20-point halftime lead on the way to an 89-58 victory over Auburn in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Friday night.
LSU (20-8) stretched its winning streak to seven games and reached 20 victories for the third time in six years under coach John Brady.
Already assured of an at-large spot in the NCAA tournament, the Tigers are two wins away from an automatic berth. They advanced to meet No. 4 Kentucky on Saturday, hoping to move a step closer to just their second tournament championship.
LSU’s only title came in 1980.
It was the Tigers’ biggest win ever in the SEC tournament, surpassing a 29-point triumph over Arkansas in 2003.
Auburn (14-17), which upset Vanderbilt in the opening round, never led against the co-champions of the SEC West. LSU quickly pushed the lead to double digits, and essentially wrapped things up by scoring the final seven points of the first half for a 46-26 lead at the break.
If Auburn had any hope of rallying, LSU quickly snuffed it out. Just seven seconds into the second half, Tack Minor drove into the lane, hit the shot despite a hard foul, and made a free throw to finish off the three-point play.
LSU, which led by as many as 34 points, shot 55 percent (32 of 58) from the field while holding Auburn to just 34 percent (22 of 65).
Auburn collapsed on SEC player of the year Brandon Bass every time he touched the ball, but that created all sorts of room for LSU’s other starters – especially Davis and Antonio Hudson.
Davis, a 300-pounder named the league’s top freshman, connected on 9-of-11 shots, even stepping outside to sink a 3-pointer. He also collected eight rebounds.
Hudson had 17 of his 21 points in the first half, hitting 5-of-7 from outside the 3-point arc.
Bass managed just six points but did lead LSU with nine rebounds. He played only 25 minutes, resting up for the semifinals when this one got out of hand.
LSU had no trouble with Auburn this season, having already beaten its division rival twice by an average margin of 17 points.
Nathan Watson led Auburn with 16 points, Toney Douglas had 14 and Ian Young 13.
LSU Quotes
LSU Head Coach John Brady
Opening Comments…
“I think Jeff Lebo has done a great job with his team this year. To win some of the games they won this year is just outstanding. It was a good game and for us to win it in this fashion without Bass having a good game was good for us. I thought we defended well, rebounded the ball and made shots. I can’t be prouder of our team.”
On resting Davis and Bass…
“First our goal was to win the game. We were able to separate the score and I was able to rest them towards the end of the game. We were fortunate to start as well as we did and Auburn doesn’t play as well when they are behind. Bass didn’t have one of his better games but we need him at his best to win tomorrow.”
On playing Kentucky…
“Last time they came out very aggressive and physical. Defensively, they are as good as anyone in the country. They are mentally tough and they will be very inspired. The key for us is to not turn the ball over and give them easy buckets. We basically know what they do defensively and we just have to match it, which is something we didn’t do in Lexington. We are better as a team now and we are extremely excited to play this team.”
LSU guard Antonio Hudson
On his shooting confidence…
“I was very confident tonight. In warmups I was shooting well and it was good for me to make my first shot. I credit my teammates like Bass and Davis in the middle because they are the reasons I get the open looks.”
LSU forward Glen Davis
On the last meeting with Kentucky…
“They did a good job of containing Bass and I in the last game. Tomorrow we just have to compete and be more competitive than the last team that played Kentucky.”
Game Notes:
For the seventh time since the league expanded to 12 teams (1992), the top two seeds from each division have advanced to the semifinal round (Kentucky, Alabama, LSU, Florida) … However, this is the first time all four top seeds have advanced since the 2001 tournament in Nashville — the largest gap since the league expansion … A year ago, only two of the top four seeds advanced.
All four games in today’s quarterfinal round were decided by at least 14 points, a first in SEC Tournament history since its revival in 1979 … Only two other tournaments (1996-New Orleans, 1994-Memphis) saw all four quarterfinal games decided by at least 10 points … The total victory margin of +78 today is the highest in the quarterfinal round since the 1994 tournament quarterfinal games in Memphis were decided by a combined 86 points, and the third highest ever since the conference expanded to 12 teams in 1992 (highest is +102 in the 1993 tournament in Lexington).
For the first time in the history of the SEC Tournament, two games featured “intra-nickname” battles between Tigers and Bulldogs … In yesterday’s first round, the Mississippi State Bulldogs downed the Georgia Bulldogs, 76-65, while in tonight’s final game, the Auburn Tigers and LSU Tigers took the court.
In six of the last seven years, the series between Auburn and LSU has been swept by either team.
LSU Notes:
The three-game sweep by LSU over Auburn this season is only the second ever in the 96-year history of the series, and the first since Auburn swept a trio of games in the 1932 season, winning the last game 30-22 in the Southern Conference Tournament here in Atlanta (a year prior to the start of the SEC).
The 89-58 LSU victory tonight is its largest margin of victory ever in an SEC Tournament game … The previous high of 29 points was set in an 85-56 defeat of Arkansas on 3/13/03 in New Orleans.
LSU’s 89 points were the most by a LSU team in the SEC Tournament since the Tigers also scored 89 points against Ole Miss on 3/12/93 in Lexington.
LSU made 11-of-18 three pointers with the 11 treys matching the Tigers’ effort at Utah (1/3/05) for the most triples this season.
(3P% … 9-17 vs. Aub 2/9) The Tigers’ 61.1 success rate (11-18) from long range is a season best … The previous best was a 9-of-17 showing (52.9%) also against Auburn, 2/9/05, in Baton Rouge.
Freshman Glen Davis finished with 24 points, his highest point total since scoring 26 points vs. Arkansas (1/18/05) in Baton Rouge … Davis has scored 20 or more points four times.
Each member of the LSU starting five entered the game with double-figure scoring averages (combining to average 67.6 points of the team’s 74.9 ppg average) … Tonight, Glen Davis (24 points), Antonio Hudson (21), Darrel Mitchell (13), Brandon Bass (6) and Tack Minor (9) combined for 73 of LSU’s 89 total points.
LSU held Auburn to 33.8 percent shooting from the field (22-65), the worst shooting day by a Tiger opponent this season … The previous low was 34.4 percent (21-61) by Ole Miss Mar. 3 in Oxford.