BATON ROUGE — LSU shot 61 percent from the field and scored 35 points off 22 American University turnovers, as the Tigers improved to 7-0 at home, with a 79-51 victory over the Eagles on Tuesday night at the Maravich Center.
LSU (7-4) was led by freshman Ben Simmons, who had 23 points, six assists and five rebounds. The 6-10 point forward was 8-of-13 shooting from the field and 7-of-9 from the free-throw line.
In his third game as a Tiger, Craig Victor II added 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting, while Aaron Epps scored 11 and senior Keith Hornsby had 10.
The Tigers were 32 of 52 from the field (61.5 percent) and held American to only 25.9 percent in the second half (7 of 27) after a hot start by the Eagles.
LSU in the second half of the contest made 68 percent from the field (17-of-25), 3-of-4 from the arc and 6-of-8 from the charity stripe after shooting 15-of-27 from the field (55.6%) in the first 20 minutes.
The Eagles were led by Jesse Reed who was 5-of-9 from the field and James Washington had 11 (5-of-13 from the field).
American (2-9), known for its methodical offense, made 10 of its first 12 shots and led the Tigers midway through the first half, 26-22. The Tigers were able to get out to two five-point advantages in the first seven minutes, the last at 13-8 at the 14:05 mark. But American made a run and would outscore LSU, 18-9 to get the four-point advantage.
LSU responded with a 10-0 run (on an Elbert Robinson III layup, buckets by Simmons and two by Aaron Epps plus two free throws by Victor II) and eventually led at halftime, 36-31. The Tigers scored 21 of the next 25 points to open the second half and put more than 20 points between the teams.
In the first half, American would score on 14-of-31 possessions and had 1.000 points per possession. In the second half, American would have the ball 32 times and score only nine times with a .625 points per possession. For the game, LSU scored on 39-of-63 possessions at a pace of 1.254 points per possession.
LSU had 18 assists (for 32 buckets) and just 7 turnovers, compared to 10 assists and 22 turnovers for American. The Tigers had 50 paint points in the game and 14 steals. Simmons, Blakeney, Hornsby and Quarterman all played at least 25 minutes in the game and had just one combined turnover.
Coach Jones dismissed the team for the Christmas break after the game and the team will return to practice at 6 p.m. on Saturday night, Dec. 26 in preparation for the Dec. 29 home game at the Maravich Center against Wake Forest.
The Demon Deacons fell to 8-3 Tuesday night after a 78-70 loss in Winston-Salem to No. 6 Xavier.
The tipoff for the game on Dec. 29 has been moved up an hour to 6 p.m. CT due to the football team’s Texas Bowl, which kicks off at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at LSUtix.net.
LSU vs. American
December 22, 2015
LSU HEAD COACH QUOTES
Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening Statement…
“I certainly have to give American credit for coming in and playing the way that they did in the first half. We knew it would be a different offensive set that we haven’t had to face all year long. They did a great job of executing it. I told our guys, you may have thought that you were mentally giving the effort that was needed, but you have to make sure that you are down and defending it differently and trying to make sure that you take away backdoor cuts. I commend our guys for our halftime adjustments that we were able to make and what they were able to do there in the second half, getting stops and holding them to some 25 percent shooting from the field. I commended our guards on the offensive end of the floor for buying in to sharing the ball and making sure we were able to punch the ball in the post and take advantage of our size in there. We were able to shoot 68 percent there in the second half and get the separation we needed from this team. Through it all, it was a good, balanced effort in the second half with our guys really focused throughout, which was needed. It’s always difficult playing that last game prior to the Christmas break. We wanted to make sure that we didn’t check out prior to because a lot of things happen to teams because they do (check out). We are fortunate that we weren’t one of those tonight. The second half allowed us to do that.”
On switching screens in the second half…
“That was the big difference in the game. They were really comfortable in running their sets. They scored at will. They shot 72 percent there in the first half and really kept us at bay. They did a great job of running into the shot clock and getting the shot clock down. They made some runs and some difficult shots. At the same time on the defensive end, they defended better. It’s really tough for us to get out-run and take the ball out of the net, but getting stops, creating turnovers—we wound up getting 22 tonight—and creating scoring opportunities really helped us.”
On creating scoring opportunities…
“It’s different. Any time you look at the stat sheet and somebody is shooting 72 percent against you like that, then, playing inside-out and those threes and layups, we were getting beat on some backdoor cuts. That’s not a traditional type of offense that we constantly play against in our league or teams that we schedule during the year. Prior to the game, I told our guys that it’s not one of those things that you can sit there and get deflated about when it happens. That’s how they play. That’s how they score. It’s going to happen. You have to be able to react to it and get on to the next play because if you get deflated, it can certainly have an effect on you. Our guys were a little bit too conscious at times. That’s what started happening to us a little bit more in the first half.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Keith Hornsby
On the difficulty of guarding American…
“It was a new challenge for us. We hadn’t faced a team that runs the Princeton offense like that before. It really tested our communication and it was a good test. They shot about 72 percent in the first half to go with their execution. It was a good test for a team that we are right now as we try and improve defensively. You could tell they practiced the backdoor cuts too. Sometimes they made some really tough ones that just got by us.”
On American shooting a high percentage from the field…
“It means we have to get stops that much more. When they shoot as well as they did in the first half, we don’t get many rebounds that we can get in transition for. It was tough but we have to be ready to make changes on the spot. I think we picked it up in the second half.”
On where the team is right now…
“We are at an improved state, but we still have a ways to go to fulfill the potential that we think we have. We are making strides. I think the second half tonight was a good example of the adjustments we made defensively. The first half was a little like the old team in the beginning. It’s all about the effort.”
On people figuring out their roles…
“I think one of the main reasons is because we get along so well off the court. It naturally translates to on the court. I can say that in my third year here, this team has the best overall chemistry. It improves with experience and that’s why all of these games before Christmas are great.”
On the next games…
“Wake Forest is going to be like a conference game. They are a really talented team. I don’t like it to think of it as that cut and dry. We take it one game at a time. We know our schedule but we don’t want to look too far ahead.”
Forward Craig Victor II
On the difficulty of guarding the offense that American runs…
“It’s a different look and something new to us. They moved the ball well, and they don’t force shots even if they are open. On our end, we just had to be disciplined. It kind of got boring but we had to stay active and do as much as possible to stay focused and locked in on defense.”
On the next games…
“I’m looking forward to battling. We don’t want to look too far in our schedule. We want to take it one game at time. I just so happens that Wake Forest is the next game. They are a great team that we will be playing before conference. We are looking forward to it as a team and we’re going to look forward to it until that day comes.”
Point Forward Ben Simmons
On the difficulty of guarding American…
“It was difficult for me in the first half because I had to play the full shot clock. They cut and get the buckets so you have to remain disciplined. In the second half we really picked it up.”
On reflecting on the season so far…
“I’ll reflect once the season is done. It’s a good chance (the Christmas break) for me to get my body right and get back to where I want to be. These next three days I’ll probably be in the gym trying to get better.”
AMERICAN HEAD COACH QUOTES
American Head Coach Mike Brennan
On his team’s performance in tonight’s game…
“We were overmatched. They’re a really good team and really talented. They execute well in addition to all their talent. We’re young, but it’s good to sort of go against a team like that and hang in there for about a half, so there’s a few positives you can take away. For the most part, we were just overmatched everywhere. (We’ve) got to rest, recuperate, get back at it and get ready for league play.”