BATON ROUGE – The LSU men’s basketball team got back on the winning track Tuesday night and ran its record to 5-0 in the friendly confines of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center with a 78-57 victory over Gardner-Webb.
LSU is now 5-4 on the season going into a 1 p.m. game Saturday in the Maravich Center against Oral Roberts (8-4). Gardner-Webb is now 4-7.
LSU used an 18-2 run midway through the first half that was the deciding factor as LSU built a 42-23 halftime advantage and LSU would lead by as many as 25 in the second half of the game.
LSU welcomed mid-season transfer Craig Victor II and senior Keith Hornsby – who missed the first seven games of the season following surgery – to the Maravich Center. The duo combined for 24 points, while freshman Ben Simmons put together a seventh straight double double with 11 points and 12 rebounds.
The Tigers allowed Gardner-Webb to stay within shouting distance after missing 11-straight free throws in the second half. LSU out-rebounded Gardner-Webb, 54-35, and held the Bulldogs to 33.3 percent from the floor (19 of 57).
LSU freshman guard Antonio Blakeney added 11 points including three three-pointers, while Aaron Epps posted a career first double double with 10 points and 11 rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
Harold McBride was the only player in double figures for GWU with 19 points, including five treys. Tyrell Nelson, who had a big effort last year against LSU in the season opener, was held to seven points.
LSU shot 46.9 percent (30-64) and did make 12 free throws on the night (12-29). LSU had 18 assists on the 30 made buckets. The Tigers had a 42-24 advantage in the paint and 17-6 on second chance points, a category in which they were outscored 20-8 by Houston this past Sunday
The Tigers were certainly more aggressive on the defensive end in the contest getting the first six points on a jumper by Elbert Robinson III, two free throws by Hornsby and a lay in by Simmons. The lead quickly went to eight on Blakeney’s first three and a jumper by Robinson. Victor’s first bucket of his LSU career at the 14:10 mark made the Tiger lead double figures for the first time at 16-6 (14:10 first half).
After the Runnin’ Bulldogs cut the game to seven, LSU ran off nine straight points on a layup by Epps, a 3-pointer by Victor, an Epps jumper and an Epps dunk and that made the Tigers advantage 26-10.
All 11 players dressed for the game saw action, including Darcy Malone, who had sat out the previous four games. Malone scored four points with a rebound and an assist. Also walk-on Henry Shortess recorded his first career rebound in the game. Jalyn Patterson sat out his second straight game with a leg injury. Brian Bridgewater did not dress for the game with an injury and Brandon Eddlestone did not dress after a minor practice injury on Tuesday. All three are listed as day-to-day.
A reminder that Saturday’s game, one of five televised by the SEC Network on Saturday, has a new start time of 1 p.m. Tickets are available at LSUtix.net and at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office through Friday at 5 p.m. Tickets will be available at the upper concourse windows of the Maravich Center beginning at 11:30 a.m. on Saturday.
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LSU vs. Gardner-Webb
December 16, 2015
LSU HEAD COACH QUOTES
Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening Statement…
“I thought our guys did a terrific job transitioning from Sunday in the practices that we’ve had and the things we’ve tried to key on. Tonight, defensively, I thought we were a much better and improved team. Defending was one of the big things we talked about, and the other thing we wanted to lock in on was rebounding. Tonight, winning the war on the boards by 19, beating them 54-35—those were some impressive numbers for us, along with holding them to 24 percent shooting from the field. They had a lot of the guys back from last year’s team. (Gardner-Webb) was ahead of us at halftime last year. It cut the lead to single digits late there in the second half with only minutes to play. Tonight, again, we were focused. I did not like how we came out in the second half on the offensive end of the floor. Defensively, we were good again in the first five minutes, but we did not take advantage of the opportunities we had to score the ball in the second half. That’s a part of growth and maturity. We have to make sure we get better at that. That’s remaining focused out there on the floor. Through it all, I was happy to see Craig Victor II out on the floor tonight. He certainly made an impact for us on both ends of the floor, defensively and offensively. It really helped our team in a lot of ways. You see what we have been missing in a guy like Keith Hornsby. He dove for a ball at half court and landed out of bounds on the other end of the floor. How hard he was playing has to transition into our other guys out there on the floor, as well. Something like that is contagious. When we have guys playing that hard, it’s good. There were some positive steps for us tonight.”
On the team’s cohesion with the additions of Keith Hornsby and Craig Victor II…
“Our team looked different tonight on both ends of the floor. We, for whatever reason, communicated better. We’ve done that in practice, but it hadn’t really transitioned into the games. Craig (Victor II) brings that sense of urgency that you play with down there. A guy like Keith Hornsby is able to provide that. Other guys are able to just do their jobs. Other guys that come in have the ability to feed off of that. (Antonio) Blakeney was better defensively tonight in the way that he played with an edge about him. That’s something we can really build on. Those two guys are paramount for us in what they provide for is us what we haven’t had all season.”
On the main focus in practice being defense …
“You just want to be able to teach them and not just getting in there and getting after them for the wrong reason. We have to continue stressing the importance in how important it is and how hard to play. At the same time, there’s a lot of teaching that has to go on. It’s a lot about rotations and trusting each other. We did it, but we did it certainly at a high level and with a sense of urgency in practice. The thing we have to get used to is transitioning that from practice more to the game on a consistent basis.”
LSU Guard Keith Hornsby
On improving defensively…
“That’s really the main thing we’ve been working on. We are really just an outright better defensive team tonight than we were at Houston. That’s clear for anyone to see. That’s exactly what we wanted.”
LSU On rebounding tenacity…
“Tonight was a great example of that. You saw people flying on the floor for balls. Getting critical rebounds is really what we talked about, and today, we took a step forward in that area.”
LSU Forward Craig Victor II
On his debut…
“That was my job. I think number 20 (Gardner-Webb Center Tyrell Nelson) came in averaging 14 points, and I think he had 47 defensive rebounds on the season. He finished with 7 (points), and I don’t know how many rebounds he had. So, I did my job.”
LSU Guard Antonio Blakeney
On his shooting performance…
“It was a good feeling. My teammates had a whole lot of confidence in me. Ben (Simmons) and Keith (Hornsby) are always telling me to shoot. Pretty much everyone tells me, to keep shooting and my time will come. But, really it’s just about the win.”
On having himself and Hornsby back on the court…
“I would say it is a new beginning. We just have to work at it. I know y’all are on us about defense and rebounding, but it takes a good group of guys that can work together. It’s about trust on defense, and I trust these guys.
LSU Forward Ben Simmons…
On Victor’s debut…
“He brought energy. Like he said, he did what he needs to do. He rebounded. He played physical. He posted up. So, he did everything that he needs to do for us.”
GARDNER-WEBB HEAD COACH QUOTES
Head Coach Tim Craft
On his team’s performance in tonight’s game…
“We really struggled offensively particularly in the first half. We struggled to find a rhythm. I thought they did a good job defensively forcing us into some tough shots. Their length really bothered us around the rim. When we got good shots, we didn’t knock them down, particularly in the first half, and they really hurt us on the glass. They outrebounded us by 19 or something like that, so they really hurt us on the offensive glass, and I thought that was the name of the game.”