BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team used a stifling defensive effort and erased a 12-point halftime deficit to grind out a 69-64 overtime victory Tuesday at the Maravich Center as part of ESPN’s Tipoff Marathon.
The Tigers (2-0) forced Texas Tech to go 7-for-30 shooting during the second half and overtime.
Jordan Mickey (18 points, 14 rebounds) and Jarell Martin (17 points, 12 rebounds) each collected double-doubles to lead LSU. The 14 rebounds for Mickey and 12 rebounds for Martin were career-highs for the sophomore All-SEC preseason selections.
Josh Gray tacked on 14 points aided by an 8-of-11 effort at the free throw line. Keith Hornsby added eight of his 12 points in the second half and overtime to give the Tigers a quartet of double-digit scorers.
Off the bench, Tim Quarterman turned in a solid all-around effort with six points, six rebounds, four assists, two blocks and a steal. He provided all six of LSU’s bench points and switched onto Texas Tech’s Zach Smith for a majority of the second half and overtime on the defensive end. Smith was limited to three points – all at the free throw line – after he tallied 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in the first half.
It was Quarterman who also provided a key steal and dunk off of LSU’s press to knot the score at 59-59 with 13 seconds left in regulation. On the ensuing possession, Texas Tech’s Robert Turner misfired on a three-pointer from the right wing, and the game was sent to overtime.
LSU surged ahead 63-59 with 2:37 remaining in the extra session after a Mickey deep jumper from the top of the key followed by a thunderous Martin dunk off a feed from Quarterman in transition. On the defensive end, the Tigers forced Texas Tech (1-1) into three turnovers and to misfire on five of six field goal attempts.
LSU connected on its first three field goals and fired out to a 6-0 edge in the opening 1:55 of the contest. Mickey buried a pair of jumpers sandwiched around an Elbert Robinson III jump hook on the left baseline.
The Red Raiders crept back into the contest behind Smith and Turner. The duo collected 19 points and made nine of its 12 field goals in the opening half.
With the score tied at 22-22, Texas Tech put together 14 of the last 16 points over the last 6:09 off the clock. The Red Raiders closed the stanza with 11 consecutive points and forced LSU to miss on its final seven shots to secure a 36-24 lead going into halftime.
Coming out of the locker room, the Tigers turned up the intensity on both sides of the floor. LSU ripped off 17-6 spurt and drew within 42-41 at the 12:08 mark. Martin and Mickey and Quarterman fueled the run with all 17 points.
Texas Tech responded with six quick points of its own to go back up 48-41 before LSU fired off another flurry sparked by Hornsby triples 57 seconds apart. Martin used a thunderous windmill dunk which ended up being a SportsCenter Top 10 play to vault the Tigers ahead 53-52 with 6:34 left.
The Red Raiders went to Norese Odiase who totaled five of his 13 points down the stretch and made two free throws inside the final minute to make it 59-55.
After LSU forced a turnover with a five-second count on an inbounds play, Gray calmy sank two free throws with 17.5 ticks on the clock to pull the Tigers with 59-57 setting up Quarterman’s steal and dunk on the next possession.
LSU heads to the Paradise Jam held in the US Virgin Islands for three games and takes on Old Dominion in Friday’s quarterfinal round. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by CBS College Sports Network
The LSU Sports Radio Network also will broadcast the game on Eagle 98.1 FM in the Baton Rouge area and inside the Geaux Zone at LSUsports.net/live. Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and Kevin Ford will call the action.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger basketball, visit www.lsusports.net/basketball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsubasketballalong with @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJones on Twitter and @LSUBasketball on Instagram.
Jarell Martin on #SCtop10 https://t.co/QXk9dDbWUM
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) November 19, 2014
LSU Men’s Basketball Postgame Quotes
LSU vs. Texas Tech – November 18, 2014
HEAD COACH JOHNNY JONES
Opening Statement …
“We knew going in that it was going to be a hard fought battle. Last year, the same similar-type of game came down to the end. They had a shot to win it, and we were able to defend it. Tonight, we get the game in overtime. I thought our guys did a tremendous job. I thought the first half, we got off to a really good start holding them to, I think, 2-of-13 from the field to start the game. We were able to get a lead there early. Then, I thought we started rushing some things. We allowed them to get back in the game, really control the tempo and get the lead. I’m really proud of our guys and how they came back out in the second half. They got off to a good start and didn’t settle for as many jumpers outside. Early on (in the second half), we got the ball toward the rim and were able to settle in. For those guys to gut it out right there at the end and with only seconds left to get the game into overtime – the way that we did down the stretch, I think gives us a great deal of confidence in this young basketball team with the lack of experience that we have.”
On tonight’s comeback victory …
“I can tell you that we have good shooters. Those guys know it, and they’re very confident; I guess a little bit too confident early on. We had to pump the brakes a little bit and make sure that we did a great job of concentrating – trying to get their defense to shift from side-to-side to give us some easy scoring opportunities, get some post touches and let those guys play in there. I thought we were able to take advantage of that early. I thought Jarell (Martin) and Jordan (Mickey) both played well inside. Jarell started getting the ball towards the rim and played much better. When you have good shooters, you have to make sure that they understand when the next one is available. You have to feel good about it. I thought Keith (Hornsby) was able to do that and knock down two back-to-back big (three-point) baskets for us.”
On the play of his team late …
“I thought (Tim) Quarterman really came in and did an excellent job for us. He played pretty much the entire second half. He made some huge plays; even right there at the end getting the last steal from the end line on the out of bounds play to score it. We put the press on to get the game into overtime. Our guys are comfortable. We know we’re a good basketball team on the defensive end of the floor. We understand that we’re a work in progress, and we have to continue to get better and hopefully not put ourselves in that type of position. You have to certainly credit Texas Tech. I thought they made some good plays. I thought they were extremely patient on the offensive end of the floor, running and getting the shot clock down, and making some big plays.”
On the adjustments made at halftime and throughout the second half …
“We had to make a little bit of an adjustment. We wound up jumping back into a zone there in the first half. They winded out and maybe scored eight out of 12 (possessions) when we went to the zone. We thought that would bother them. They hadn’t shot the ball well early on. So, in the second half, we made some slight adjustments defensively. Tim Quarterman was the biggest. We put him on one of their biggest scorers, and he did an excellent job containing him. Then, we were a little bit more active with our hands. They didn’t get a lot of the slip plays that they got in the first half. We forced them off of the ball screen action. They started slipping it, and we were able to defend that better.”
LSU FORWARD JARELL MARTIN
On the inconsistency in tonight’s shooting …
“It was very frustrating. We got some good looks and knowing we were not able to knock down some shots was very frustrating. We had to come up with another game plan and try to get the ball in the hole and also try to get to the free throw line. “
On the team’s persistence especially on the defensive end…
“It’s good that we came up with another strategy. That is something we can always change as long as we are defending the ball well. I think they finished at 34 percent from the field so that is a big accomplishment when we can create teams to have bad nights in shooting the ball.”
On when asked about how electrifying his dunks were…
“It was good, I wanted to give the fans something to get loud about. They were many people in the house tonight. I definitely wanted to give them something and keep supporting us. “
LSU FORWARD JORDAN MICKEY
On the chemistry between him and Jarell Martin…
“Jarell and I definitely have some chemistry. Playing with each other last year and going to camps together, it definitely creates great chemistry between us.”
On how big tonight’s win is for the team …
“We don’t look at games as big games. Our biggest game is the next game on our schedule. Tonight, we came out and did what we needed to do to win. It was a great win for us, and it showed ourselves what our team is capable of doing. We need to continue to do it every night.”
Texas Tech Head Coach Tubby Smith
Opening Statement
“We’ve certainly got to tip our caps off to LSU. They struggled shooting the ball (in the first half). They came out and made a great push in the second half. We made a push in the first half and were down big and came back. They came back in the second half by driving the ball and forcing us to foul them. Then, we made some very costly mistakes at the end of the game when we had the chance to put them away. We had the five-second violation from out-of-bounds and then the gift to them at the end to tie it up. We still had a shot to win the game, and we settled for a three-point shot. We have some things to work on and improve on. I was very impressed with LSU. They kept their composure. They are very talented and athletic. I thought they really dominated the boards early on. I thought we got back in the game by rebounding the ball better.”
On Jordan Mickey…
“I thought our best defense was our offense. We tired to keep the ball out of his hands for as long as we could because they were going to score. They have four guys averaging over 17 points a game. We had a good game plan. It’s just disappointing we couldn’t finalize it. (Jordan) Mickey is a great athlete and great player. He was the key at the end. He really stuck the jumper at the end to tie it up and then win it. He’s really a clutch player.”