BATON ROUGE — The LSU Tigers, playing its first game under new head coach Trent Johnson, pulled away from a stubborn Jackson State Tiger team in the final 20 minutes to score a 79-65 victory Saturday in the season opener at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The game, part of a rare basketball-football doubleheader on the LSU campus, was the first of a school record 21 home games for LSU and the opening homestand continues Thursday at 7 p.m. with the start of the LSU Invitational.
Bo Spencer scored a career-high 21 points for the Tigers. The sophomore, who made three starts a year ago as a freshman, made seven of his 11 field-goal attempts. He also sank three of his five shots from behind the three-point line. Seniors Tasmin Mitchell and Chris Johnson each scored 17 points for LSU.
Darrion Griffin was the top scorer for Jackson State with 16 points. Grant Maxey and Jeremy Caldwell added 13 points, while De’Suan Dixon contributed 10.
With the game tied at 39-39 at the intermission after a first 20 minutes featuring eight ties and 11 lead changes, the tight game continued into the second half with three more lead changes and Jackson State taking a 47-45 lead with 15:23 to play. LSU would take the lead for good on a dunk by Chris Johnson, 48-47, with 13:44 to go and widened the lead to 55-47 with 11:17 left on a jumper by freshman Storm Warren.
Jackson State wouldn’t go away, cutting the game to 62-59 with 7:58 to go, but LSU closed the game with a 17-6 run. Johnson, Mitchell and Spencer combined for all but two of those points.
“Trent has them playing really well,” said Jackson State Coach Tevester Anderson. “He’s a good coach. I thought their half-court offense in the second half was really good. They really executed much better than they did in the first half. They’re really a fine team. I think this team (LSU) is a typical SEC team. He’s got them playing typical SEC basketball. They’re long, and they shoot the ball pretty well too. They shot the ball 45 of 46 percent from the floor in their first game out. That’s pretty good.”
LSU shot 45.8 percent for the game, 27-of-59, and 15-of-31 (48.4%) in the second half. LSU made 3-of-7 three-pointers in the second half and again the free throw percentage was good, making 21-of-26 or 80 percent. LSU out rebounded the Tigers of Jackson State, 42-30. Jackson State shot 36.4 percent, but just 7-of-26 (26.9 percent) in the second half.
“Sixty-five points and 24 free throws on our home floor are not good enough,” said Trent Johnson. “The thing that disappoints me is that we haven’t practiced like that and we didn’t play like that versus Tulane and New Orleans. Hopefully, this will be something that can be contributed to first game jitters. We definitely need to get it corrected. Give Jackson State credit, we had a concern as a staff and I as a head coach, this was a team that returned four starters and three guys that could really score the ball and had defensive quickness.”
Tickets for Thursday night’s game are on sale at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and online at www.LSUsports.net starting at just $5.
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON QUOTES
Opening statement …
“A win is a win.”
On LSU’s performance …
“Sixty-five points and 24 free throws on our home floor are not good enough. The thing that disappoints me is that we haven’t practiced like that and we didn’t play like that versus Tulane and New Orleans. Hopefully, this will be something that can be contributed to first game jitters. We definitely need to get it corrected. Give Jackson State credit, we had a concern as a staff and I as a head coach, this was a team that returned four starters and three guys that could really score the ball and had defensive quickness. I think they are a group a lot like we are in the regard that they have a veteran group that is coming back and they are hungry.”
On the talk he gave the team at the half …
“Just to exert energy and compete. There is no secret to this thing. It is hard to compete at a high level at this level of play and rebound. Offensively, everybody wants to do that. I was just disappointed and I know they were too in terms of their lack of intensity. It is hard to sustain it for 40 minutes, but we have to. Our margin of error is what it is, it is very slim.”
On Bo Spencer‘s performance …
“Bo (Spencer) made good decisions. Everyone here might be surprised, but Bo is the one guy on this basketball team that has made immense improvements. He is the one guy that since I’ve gotten here, he hasn’t been able to breathe. We have been on him constantly. His play in the first half is what kept us close, but in terms of shots that he took, I told him a long time ago, he was going to have opportunity.”
On if Bo Spencer solidified a starting position …
“Bo is running our team and he is doing a good job. Am I down on Chris (Bass)? No, not by any means. Chris didn’t play a lot tonight because Bo played so well. That could be the same for Marcus (Thornton) if Garrett (Temple) comes off the bench and that could be the same for any guy on this team. That is the way this team is. We don’t have a guy that is going to give us 25 every night and be able to compete at the defensive end like we need to.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On how he thought the team played the first game of the year…
“I do not think we played too well the first half. I know I personally had a couple of missed bocks. That is how every team starts off. All of the credit goes to Jackson State. They are a good team and this was a good game to learn from.”
On the advantage of having Bo Spencer step up in the second half…
“It was great. I am so proud of him. He is the one that kept us in the game. He has a lot of heart and determination, and he is the one that won the game for us.”
On how it felt to finally play…
“I can always get better, but overall my physical ability has been great. The trainers did a great job of getting me in shape. I feel great and ready for the season.”
On his scoring abilities in the second half…
“Coach (Johnson) told me that if I had a couple of open shots, I should take them. He has really made me focus on trying to make plays and create ways to get points on the board. I didn’t expect to make this many points. It just happened.”
On the fan atmosphere today…
“It was a great day for basketball. The Tiger Band was here, it is the 100th Anniversary and we have a new coach. The atmosphere was great. It’s always nice to play when you have all of that to play for. We are trying to bring LSU Basketball back to LSU. ”
On how well the freshmen stepped up to play…
“They played within their role. Coach Johnson has preached in every practice about playing within our roles. They stepped up today and showed that they can play under pressure.”
On how well he thought the team played…
“Well, today we played how we have been practicing. We were a little sluggish and slow. We know what we have to work on and what problems need to be fixed. I know we can play better, and we will.”
JACKSON STATE HEAD COACH TEVESTER ANDERSON
On the game…
“Trent (Johnson) has them playing really well. He’s a good coach. I thought their half-court offense in the second half was really good. They really executed much better than they did in the first half. They really took our legs from us by slowing this game down a little bit and really running the offense. We came out in the second half and probably shot a little quicker than we should have. We should have taken their legs a little bit from them too. They rebound the ball well. They shoot the ball well. They’re a really fine team. I think this team (LSU) here is a typical SEC team. He’s got them playing typical SEC basketball. They’re long, and they shoot the ball pretty well too. They shot the ball 45 or 46 percent from the floor in their first game out. That’s pretty good.”
On preparing for a new coach…
“We couldn’t prepare. I think they prepared for us better than we prepared for them. They perhaps watched a lot of last year’s tapes, and with a new coach, I’m sure he brought a lot of the stuff he used at Stanford, but I think he’s changed a little in his philosophy, especially when you compare the SEC to the Pac-10. I thought they really executed well in the second half, and they got some big offensive rebounds. They wore us down.”
On what Trent Johnson may have changed with his philosophy…
“I think he may have a few better athletes. He was a little bit bigger at Stanford. At Stanford, he had those two trees in there (Lopez brothers). You just have to throw it to them on the block, and they could score for you. He’s a little bit smaller, and I think he’ll play a little bit more up-tempo or a mixture of both, which is typical SEC basketball.”
On Grant Maxey slowing down in the second half…
“He got tired. We talked about that, our staff did. We probably should have rested him a little more and (Darrion) Griffin too. We’ve played teams like this before, many times over, but I thought this team perhaps took some things away from us that we usually do. We missed some easy chip-ins too, but they’re a good team. I think they are going to be in the upper echelon of the SEC.”