BATON ROUGE — SEC Freshman of the Year Glen Davis led four Tigers in double figures scoring with 20 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead the LSU men’s basketball team to an exhibition victory over EA Sports, 74-54, on Thursday in the Maravich Center.
In the season opening contest, the Tigers overcame a slow start and a four-point halftime deficit by shooting 66.7 (18 of 27) in the second half and 51.7 percent for the game (30 of 58).
Senior guard Darrel Mitchell added 17 points, while freshman forward Tasmin Mitchell and redshirt freshman forward Tyrus Thomas each scored 13.
Davis made 10-of-14 shots and committed only one personal foul in 31 minutes of action. Darrel Mitchell saw all but one minute and hit 6-of-13 shots including 3-of-6 three pointers.
LSU committed only nine turnovers while forcing 20. The Tigers also out-rebounded EA Sports, 34-27.
EA Sports was led by former Florida State forward Anthony Richardson and former Southeast Oklahoma forward Anthony Walton who each had 10 points. The exhibition team shot only 37 percent from the field (17 of 46).
EA Sports scored the game’s first eight points on a pair of three-pointers — from the experimental 20-foot, 9-inch arc — before the Davis’ power layup gave the Tigers their first points of the game at the 16:25 mark.
Midway through the first half, LSU cut the lead to four, 17-13, on a tip-in of a missed three-pointer by redshirt freshman Tyrus Thomas and then a fast-break dunk by Darrel Mitchell off a steal by freshman point guard Ben Voogd.
LSU worked within three points after a dunk by reserve forward Magnum Rolle, but five straight by the exhibition squad included a three pointer by Robby Collum and a sleek give-and-go by Bernard Rock to push the lead to 29-21 with 2:46 to play in the first half.
The Tigers scored six of the half’s final eight points to trail 31-27 at the break.
LSU brought the game to a tie for the first time at 34-34, and earned their first lead of the game at 40-39 on a second-chance basket by Davis.
A pair of free throws and a three-pointer by Darrel Mitchell with just more than five minutes to play extended the LSU lead to 11, 59-48. Davis scored four more and the Tigers never looked back, leading by as many as 19 down the stretch after a 23-6 run.
LSU returns to action on Nov. 15 at 7 p.m. in an exhibition against a high scoring team from LSU-Shreveport.
The second exhibition game will feature a free preview of live streaming LSU basketball video in the Geaux Zone on LSUsports.net.
Fans from around the world can watch this contest for free beginning with a five-minute pre-game show at 6:55 p.m. with the “Voice of the Tigers” Jim Hawthorne and color analyst Kevin Ford.
LSU Head Coach John Brady Quotes
Opening Statement
“It was a good start for our team, I thought. I say that because of where EA Sports has been. Kansas State: got beat real close. They go to Iowa State and win. At the buzzer or the last 10 seconds at Providence, and then they come in here and we really didn’t handle them till the second half, particularly defensively. We started the game, I would say, a little anxious. We were throwing balls to each other like we were 20 yards apart in three feet. I just sat there early on and let them play through anxiety.
“Really, in the second half, we increased the lead and had four freshmen on the floor for most of the time which is encouraging. Obviously we need to get more physical, but I thought that our perimeter defense was pretty good. Darrel Mitchell really forced some turnovers in the second half, I thought that Garrett Temple tried to guard, I though Tasmin (Mitchell) — was he excited about playing his first game at LSU, wow. I don’t think that he has missed that many shots since the fifth grade, and he had some point blanks. He was so excited about playing, he admitted yesterday that he was a little nervous. So I just let him play through some missed shots, then he got going and showed people what he is really about. I thought that he really tried to guard, regardless of whether he missed baskets or not, I thought that he really tried to contend. I thought that Glen (Davis) played well and I thought that the second half, for our team, based on that team and what they have done is a pretty good score for us to be able to create.
“It gives us something to build on, and the best thing about this game tonight is that we have it on film. All of our guys, they were volunteering to come in tomorrow in between classes or after lunch to watch the tape because they can’t wait to see themselves and what they can do better, and that’s a good sign. We do weights tomorrow at three and we practice at four, and on the days that we lift and practice we try to watch the tape during the day and all of our guys will come in there and watch it.
“We tried to play a lot of people like Kentrell (Gransberry), I need to play Kentrell a little bit more but I really wanted to let Magnum Roll get in and get a feel for the game. And Tyrus Thomas was so excited to play his first game in two years after sitting out last year, that the first five times down the floor I thought he was going to pass out. But he caught his second wind and I think he showed us some flashes of what he is going to be, being able to jump over the rim and score and create some things for us around the goal.
“I was encouraged, it was a good start for our team and we got another one on Tuesday and we are looking forward to that one and then we open up for real on Friday against Southern.”
EA SPORTS HEAD COACH MAURY HANKS QUOTES
On his team’s performance…
“The first half we played really well by executing what we needed to do. LSU just played a lot harder in the second half like I knew they would with Coach Brady getting on them at halftime. They are a really good team with a lot of energy.”
On what changed in the second half…
“Our guys’ attitudes changed, they took things for granted. They started thinking individually instead of about the team. When we were thinking about the team we were playing really well, but when we started thinking individually that’s where we starting shooting poorly.”
On the play of Glen Davis…
“He is a beast. I have known him for a long time. He has as good of feet and hands as any big man in college basketball. He is a warrior and he never takes plays off.”
Men’s College Basketball Scores
SOUTH
Southern Poly 102, Grace Bible 70
Virginia Tech 80, Radford 50
W. Carolina 56, Bowling Green 50
2K Sports College Hoops Classic
First Round
George Mason 79, UC Irvine 56
Georgia Southern 89, Portland 75
Texas Tech 88, San Jose St. 54
Wake Forest 78, MVSU 64
Second Round
Florida 83, Albany, N.Y. 64
Oakland, Mich. 72, St. Peter’s 69
EXHIBITION
Athletes in Action 78, Limestone 73
BYU 86, Seattle Pacific 72
Charleston Southern 83, North Greenville 65
Duke 102, N.C. Central 42
Georgia College 73, Mercer 66
Haverford 80, Israel at Heart 47
Ind.-Pur.-Indpls. 72, Marian, Ind. 55
Indiana 96, Indianapolis 49
Ky. Wesleyan 90, Illinois Tech 65
LSU 74, EA Sports 54
Louisiana-Lafayette 92, St. Gregory’s 53
Massachusetts 96, Dowling 55
McNeese St. 99, LSU-Shreveport 88
Mesa, Colo. 59, Utah Valley St. 57
Minnesota 78, Minn. Duluth 64
Missouri St. 116, Missouri Southern 66
Montevallo 76, Jackson St. 65
Montreat 65, N.C.-Asheville 62
Murray St. 81, Christian Brothers 37
Sam Houston St. 71, Angelo St. 53
South Carolina 95, S.C.-Aiken 63
Tenn.-Martin 85, Cumberland, Tenn. 68
Texas A&M Commerce 99, Stephen F.Austin 93
Texas A&M-Kingsville 75, Texas Southern 63
Virginia Union 83, Va. Commonwealth 78
Wichita St. 67, Rockhurst 55