BATON ROUGE — Glen Davis and Tasmin Mitchell each scored 16 points, as No. 14 LSU overcame a nine-point first-half deficit with a stellar defensive effort to beat No. 18 Connecticut, 66-49, in front of a national TV audience and ESPN Gameday.
In the second half, the Tigers (11-3, 0-0 SEC) scored 12 points off UConn’s 12 turnovers to run away from the Huskies.
UConn (12-2, 1-1 Big East), which started three sophomores and two freshmen, led 15-6 early in the first half but fell apart under the weight of Davis and the Tigers defense in final 25 minutes of the game.
Neither team shot well, but the Tigers’ 40.4-percent clip (23 of 57) was well superior to Connecticut’s 31.6 percent (18 of 57). The Tigers made up for a slow start by making 46-percent of its shots in the second half (16 of 35).
Davis fouled out in the waning minutes, but was a force throughout the game. He made only 5-of-13 shots but made all five free throws, had eight rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.
Mitchell was in the right place at the right time, picking up 10 rebounds (four offensive) and making 6-of-10 shots.
Point guard Garrett Temple added 14 points with seven rebounds. Reserve forward Magnum Rolle had a career-best four blocked shots while pulling down six rebounds and scoring four points.
Connecticut’s only player in double figures scoring was guard Jerome Dyson, who was held to 3-of-10 shooting, and scored 12 points. Starting forward Marcus Johnson and 7-3 center Hasheem Thabeet each had eight.
UConn made only 11 of 24 free throws, while LSU made 16 of 22.
Playing in front of a packed house doning purple, gold and white t-shirts by section, the Tigers overcame a nine-point deficit by outscoring the Huskies, 10-2 in the final 3:50.
UConn scored the game’s first seven points, forcing LSU head coach John Brady to call his first of three first-half timeouts with 17:20 left.
Davis’ hook shot in the paint broke LSU’s drought on its next possession, and his three-pointer from the top of the key brought the Tigers within three, 9-6.
However, UConn’s Adrien and Thabeet dominated the paint on both ends of the court, holding LSU scoreless for 6:05 and giving the Huskies a 15-6 lead at the 11:47 mark.
The Tigers fought back within four, 24-20, on Rolle’s hook shot in the paint but missed an opportunity to get closer when Dameon Mason‘s fast-break layup was blocked by Doug Wiggins with 3:57 to play in the half.
However, after Thabeet hit two free throws following media timeout, LSU scored 10 of the next 12 points including a 35-footer by Minor at the buzzer that brought the crowd to its feet.
At the half, LSU led 30-28, its first lead of the game.
The Tigers continued to put pressure on UConn to open the second half, though the pace of the game was slowed significantly with several turnovers and fouls.
Since trailing by eight late in the first half, LSU extended it’s run to 30-12 to lead 46-36 with 9:42 to play in the game.
UConn made only 4-of-18 shots during this run with 12 turnovers.
The Huskies found their stroke with just over six minutes to play, answering a Davis three-point play with cconsecutive baskets to cut the lead to 49-42.
After the teams traded free throws, Temple converted a three-point play and Mitchell scored a put-back to extend the lead to 56-43 with 4:09 to play.
The Huskies would get no closer than 11 for the remainder of the contest.
LSU Coach Quotes
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY QUOTES
Opening statement…
“There are two things I would like to say first. I first want to congratulate our team for how hard they played, particularly defensively. I thought at times we weren’t as efficient as we needed to be and we didn’t take care of the ball as well as we should have. The second thing I want to do is give a special thanks to our fans for how they came out and supported our team. I thought they were great. We need that support because it helps more then they will ever realize. I hope our fans enjoyed tonight’s game and I hope they come back. Hopefully our fans saw something they like and they should expect the same effort in SEC play.”
“I thought it was a very physical game and we had some great play out of our bench. I thought we played well all around. Connecticut didn’t shoot free throws very well for whatever reason but I thought we guarded really well throughout the game. We were able to put some pressure on them and bother their shooters. Obviously we didn’t start the game as well as we would have liked but we got ourselves going and everybody contributed. We got Glen (Davis) involved more in the second half and Garrett (Temple) made some timely baskets. Tasmin Mitchell really played a tough game. I was also proud of Tack coming in and giving us some positive minutes. Magnum (Rolle) had his moments of good play. We are going to need that effective bench play, particularly when we go on the road Tuesday at Alabama.”
LSU Player Quotes
On what he focused on in his personal play…
“I just humbled myself. I know things can’t go my way all the time. I just humbled myself and cheered my team on, and when the chance came to step up I stepped up for my team.”
On his long range 3-pointer…
“I had been making shots like that at practice before the buzzer goes off. I just shot like I have been at practice and it went in.”
On the adjustments he has made in his play…
“I focused on defense first. The offense will come if I play good defense. That is a big step that I am trying to do this year. I am trying to make my defense better, guard my man better and the offense will come easier.”
On Connecticut…
“I know they are a good defending team. I just went in there with intensity and we knocked down shots and ran our plays and we defending excellent. We came around with their game and they couldn’t hit shots and we played good defense.”
On Magnum Rolle‘s play and what it did for the team…
“Magnum (Rolle) gave us a tremendous level. We have been waiting on that for a long time. We know his capabilities. He came out and did it for us. That gave us confidence knowing that we had a big man down there blocking shots.”
On what they had to do to get this victory…
“Basically the coaching staff told us that we needed to get our hands on the offensive rebounds and the defensive rebounds. We needed to get on some loose balls. We needed to hustle harder than them because they are a hustling team. If we matched their hustle or hustled harder than them then we would come out with the victory.”
On what this win does for the team…
“It gives us a lot of confidence. We want to be a good team coached by a great person and a great coach. We need to go to Tuscaloosa and handle Alabama in SEC play.”
UCONN HEAD COACH JIM CALHOUN
Opening Statement
“I first congratulate LSU. John (Brady) did a great job of getting his team prepared for the game. Physically, they are very tough. It was the most physical team we have played all year. Somewhere in the midst of that game someone was going to stand up and someone was not going to stand up. They did a terrific job of standing up and winning the basketball game.”
On the turnovers …
“Their defense and their will. It’s simple. That led to four assists. I’ll be scratching my head I’m sure all the way back to Connecticut. Their defense was very good. If we think we have seen good defense, Pittsburgh will probably play us good and St. John’s will play us a little bit. We’ll see defense again. It was probably the most physical game we have played in a long time. Both teams were allowed to play the same way.”
On LSU’s Glen Davis …
“He is a good basketball player. I’ve always thought he is very, very good. He has a terrific NBA future. He’s getting better all the time. They have a nice basketball team. They play well together. They defended the hell out of us. It was being allowed both ways. It was a more physical game in an awful long time.”
UCONN PLAYER QUOTES
Sophomore G A.J. Price
“We have to play with more hunger and more fight. We can’t give in to teams playing as physical. We just gave in on the offensive end. I wish I knew what happened. I felt like we were controlling the game. We were running. They were very scared of our fast break. From then, I don’t know what happened. We slowed down. We started running a half court offense. They took us out of what we wanted to by being physical. That goes back to us giving in.”