BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers now have opening night in their sights after scoring a 94-41 win over Louisiana College in the seventh-ranked Tigers second of two exhibition contests Wednesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers now will have one day of preparation before opening the season on Friday night at 7 p.m. against Nicholls State University in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Tickets for $11 are available on line at www.LSUsports.net. or at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office. There are also $5 upper level tickets available for youth. Nicholls State has four games under its belt after a loss at Starkville and three games in the Basketball Travelers Classic in Seattle, Wash.
Louisiana College gave the Tigers quite a handful for the first 15 minutes of the contest, trailing by just 27-20 with six minutes to go in the first stanza before LSU went on a 19-2 run to close the half to go to the intermission up, 46-22. The Tigers continued to expand the lead to 30, 59-29, on a Darnell Lazare dunk with 13:36 to play, 41 on a Ben Voogd layup with 10:04 to play and as much as 59 points, 92-33, on a Chris Johnson bucket with 2:51 to go.
Tasmin Mitchell led LSU with 20 points, while Dameon Mason continued to show his ability since transferring from Marquette with 17 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and no turnovers in 36 minutes of play. Glen Davis, who will enter the game Friday with a 40-game double figure scoring streak, had 15 points and 10 rebounds in 28 minutes despite a scary first-half fall. Johnson put in 14 points in off the bench in 16 minutes and Lazare added 11.
LSU shot 58.6 percent in the first half and 60 percent in the second half to finish 38-of-64 for 59.4 percent and again was consistent at the line for the second straight exhibition, hitting 17-of-23 after hitting 17-of-24 in the win over EA Sports. LSU out rebounded the Wildcats, 48-23.
Louisiana College, playing its first contest of the season had two players in double figures with Josh Johnson getting 13 points, including 3-of-3 from the arc and Josh Martin with 11 points. Louisiana College shot just 29.6 percent (16-of-54) and turned the ball over 20 times.
LSU cut its turnovers in half from the EA Sports game, turning the ball over just 11 times.
“I thought we were better (Wednesday) than we were in the first exhibition simply from an effort and intensity standpoint,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “I think Louisiana College is well coached and they ran well and did some nice things offensively. They played hard and forced our team to cover them out in the perimeter. We had a little better feel about ourselves than we did last week and hopefully we can continue to improve. I thought we defended and rebounded well. We used our size and athleticism to our advantage.”
“I thought we competed for the first 15 minutes,” said longtime Louisiana College Coach Gene Rushing. “I don’t take anything away from LSU’s defense. Their defense is strong, and they get up in your lanes and play physical. My players didn’t respond. LSU is very, very athletic. They have the elements to be very good. I think they will get better as they go along.”
LSU will be the last team in the Southeastern Conference to play its first game of the year on Friday and will be one of the last 11 teams in Division I to play its opening game.
“It starts for real on Friday against Nicholls and we are going to have to have the same effort we had (Wednesday) and continue to improve,” said Brady.
The Tigers will also after Friday’s opener be in action on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m. at the Maravich Center against Louisiana-Monroe.
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY QUOTES
Opening statement…
“I thought we were better tonight than we were in the first exhibition simply from an effort and intensity standpoint. I think Louisiana College is well coached and they ran well and did some nice things offensively tonight. They played hard and forced our team to cover them out in the perimeter. We wanted to pressure them all over the floor. We had a little better feel about ourselves tonight than we did last week and hopefully we can continue to improve. I thought we defended and rebounded well. We used our size and athleticism to our advantage. It starts for real on Friday against Nicholls State and we are going to have to have the same effort we had tonight and continue to improve.”
On Magnum Rolle…
“I prefer to have Magnum Rolle playing Friday because he needs these games to improve. His progress is where I want it to be right now, but he still needs practice and games to continue to improve.”
On Tasmin Mitchell…
“We played Tasmin around the goal a lot tonight and he knows what he is doing around the basket. He is comfortable under the basket and he was able to get some easy shots tonight. If we have to we will put him down low again on Friday.”
On how the team has handled the high expectations…
“I think what people need to understand is that we are not the team that beat Duke and Texas to reach the Final Four. We are not that team yet because of the players that we lost. If someone expects us to pick up right where we left off last season with the two prominent players we lost, you can’t do that. We are still trying to figure out who we are and trying to get a good substitution mix. I don’t think our team is caught up in that (high expectations). We are just trying to find out who we are and what we do best.”
On Glen Davis…
“I really thought Glen Davis was unselfish and patient in his play tonight. I was proud of him for that. We just need to keep developing that chemistry and improve on it as the season goes on.”
LOUISIANA COLLEGE HEAD COACH GENE RUSHING
Opening Statement
“I thought we competed for the first 15 minutes pretty good. It all went away. I don’t take anything away from LSU’s defense. Their defense is strong, and they get up in your lanes and play physical. My players didn’t respond. That is just the way the game is at this level, and that is the way the game should be played. We didn’t move very hard, and we didn’t help each other get open very well. Our offense was stagnant because of their physical nature. You can’t turn it over against a team like this. It gives them too many opportunities in the open court and that is their game.”
On LSU’s athleticism …
“I knew they were very talented. They are very, very athletic. They have the elements to be very good. You are starting 6-5 at the point. You are starting 6-6 at the two (guard). You got (Glen) Big Baby (Davis) inside. You have Tasmin Mitchell out there. That is a powerful, powerful lineup. You have (Magnum) Rolle who didn’t even play tonight. He’s a six man who could be a starter for anyone else. What else could you ask for? What else could you need? They can get in your lanes, and we didn’t respond to it. I think they will get better as they go along.”