BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU men’s basketball team showed an effort that was strong enough to will them back from a four-point halftime deficit to score a 76-71 win over No. 15 Texas A&M in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Saturday afternoon that allows the Tigers to go to the final six games of the regular season tied for first in the Southeastern Conference.
LSU is now 16-9 overall and 9-3 in the SEC, tied with Kentucky at 9-3, winners at South Carolina on Saturday afternoon. South Carolina is 8-4 and Florida could be 8-4 by the end of the day’s play.
Texas A&M falls to 18-7 and 7-5 in the league.
The Tigers were down, 37-33, at the intermission and it could have been seven down as A&M’s Tonny Trocha-Morelos hit a trey with 16 seconds to play in the first half. But Keith Hornsby took a quick pass from Simmons and hit a trey with seven seconds left to make the margin four at the break.
LSU would go down seven in the first minute of the second half, but the Tigers fought back late to get the win.
Ben Simmons and Craig Victor II led LSU with 16 points apiece. Simmons added 11 rebounds, 7 assists and no turnovers in 40 minutes. Victor, saddled with two fouls in the first 5:10 that sent him to the bench for the rest of the half, responded big in the final 20 minutes with 14 second half points, including 8-of-9 at the free throw line.
Keith Hornsby had 15 points and five steals, while Antonio Blakeney had 10 points to complete the double figure scoring. The four combined for 57 of LSU’s 76 points.
The Aggies, losers of five straight conference games and five-of-their last six starts, was led by Danuel House with 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting, while Alex Caruso had 14 points, Jalen Jones 12 and Admon Gilder 11.
Texas A&M outshot LSU, 55.8 percent (29-of-52) to 42.1 (24-of-57). It marks the second time in nine games in which LSU was outshot that the Tigers have won and the eighth time that LSU has won when outshot from the field in Coach Johnny Jones‘ tenure.
LSU again was able to shoot 50 percent or better in the second half for the 17th time this season with LSU making 12-of-24 field goals. LSU has won 15-of-the-17 times it has posted 50 percent or better in the final 20 minutes.
LSU committed just nine turnovers in the game to A&M’s 19 and the Tigers had a 20-10 advantage in points off turnovers and 12-8 on second chance points. Although the LSU rebound margin was just one, the Tigers had a 14-7 advantage on the offensive boards.
In the second half, the Tigers got the game tied for the first time in the half at 42-42 with 16:36 to play on two free throws by Victor, but A&M came back with two layup drives to back up four. The Tigers would tie the game at 50-50 on a Victor charity toss and his second free throw and an A&M turnover led to a Hornsby bucket that gave LSU a 53-50 lead with 10:21 to play.
But Gilder and Jones got buckets and then House a dunk and the A&M lead went back to three, 56-53, with 8:40 to go.
LSU tied the game at 60-60 with 6:24 to play on a Simmons free throw and from there the game turned LSU’s way for good as Victor got an old-fashion three-point play and after an A&M basket, Simmons dished to Josh Gray for a layup. After two A&M free throws, Hornsby hit a trey with 2:59 and after a Hornsby steal of Jalen Jones, Tim Quarterman hit a layup to give LSU a 70-64 lead with 2:40 to play.
The Tigers then made six straight free throws to go up by 10, 76-66, with 31 seconds left to ice the win.
LSU plays Alabama at 8 p.m. Wednesday on the SEC Network in its next game. Tickets are available at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and at LSUtix.net.
Follow LSU basketball updates at www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and @LSUBasketball on Twitter.
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LSU HEAD COACH QUOTES
Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening Statement…
“I thought there was a great effort from our team tonight in a game that we knew would be a hard-fought battle against a very tough, talented basketball team, and that it was. Our guys came out in the first half in the first five or so minutes and played at a certain level with energy and excitement in the game. Knowing the great team that Texas A&M is and the firepower they possess, I knew they would continue to fight. Unfortunately, we had a little bit of a deficit there at the half because of some foul trouble we caught in the first half. In the second half, our guys did a great job of continuing to battle and did a great job of closing out the game against a very talented team on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we had great stops. On the offensive end, we stayed away from taking tough shots and executing plays and taking care of the basketball to give ourselves a chance to get out of here with a big win here in a great conference game today.”
On the physicality of LSU today…
“We made big plays. Craig Victor II‘s presence in the game, we challenged him a little bit yesterday, and he came up big today and played big. He unfortunately picked up two quick fouls in the first half. In the second half, he wasn’t distracted by what had transpired in the first half. He played big. I thought Keith Hornby set the tone, diving after a loose ball there late. The type of play he made was pretty much how the game had played out with that type of energy, that type of hustle, that type of excitement by our guys. We won some loose ball wars today. Although it was by one, it was big for us to win the rebound war. We wound up getting 14 offensive rebounds. That was big for us, shooting 50 percent in the second half.”
On the team’s performance at the free throw line…
“I thought it was really good for us. We didn’t shoot them great the other night. We felt like that cost us from probably having a chance late on the road to win. Our guys stepped up and made some huge free throws tonight. Even there in crunch time down the stretch, they made some big free throws. At the end of the day, that’s the difference in the game. If you can knock your free throws down, you get that type of separation. Then, teams have to foul, and if you can go up and knock those free throws down, it’s big for us.”
On Tim Quarterman‘s performance…
“Tim Quarterman was excellent today. This afternoon, he did a great job of running our team, quarterbacking it, getting the ball to guys in areas in scoring position. On the other end of the floor, he did a great job of initiating our defensive effort, too, in terms of scouting and knowing exactly where we were trying to push the ball and what we were going to do defensively. His engagement was big for us today on both ends of the floor. He really impacted the game.”
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Forward Craig Victor II
On having a mission in the second half after foul trouble…
“I had a mission the whole game. They just cut my mission short. I have to give a lot of credit to (Aaron) Epps and Brian (Bridgewater) because they came in and they held the load. They put us in a position to win the game in the second half. I was on a mission from the jump because (Tyler) Davis had a good first game. I took it personal and I put that load on myself to stop him.”
On what he learned tonight…
“We valued the basketball and every possession. We didn’t do that the last game. We shot ourselves in the foot with turnovers. We shot a good percentage today and put ourselves in a good position.”
Guard Tim Quarterman
On bringing energy…
“I just came out and tried to make plays for my team down the stretch. Tonight I just came in focused on running the team and getting the ball to my teammates. I wanted to get them in positions where they could be successful. I also wanted to play defense to the best of my ability.”
On this being a quarterback game…
“Every game from here on out is a quarterback game. I have to be at my best for our team to be at our best because I’m the point guard. I go out there and put the load on my shoulders to be the best I can be every night so we can win games.”
On what he has learned from this game…
“The game is all about possessions. You have to be the best on every possession. I think we had a lot of great possessions tonight offensively and defensively. Even though they scored a couple possessions, we still played good defense. On defense we were solid tonight. We made a lot of stops and steals tonight. We were getting in the lanes and rebounding the ball well. We ended up beating them on the boards. It was big for our team.”
Guard Keith Hornsby
On playing with a lot of passion…
“It was not just a game where we knew it would be good for us to win for our standing in the conference. It’s also a revenge game. Last year, Texas A&M got us twice and they got us at their place this year early on. There was a little more initiative to beat them this time along with the help of our place and fight for first place. All that kind of came together. I thought we played really well tonight.”
On what changed…
“We need to build momentum of our own. They came back and stole our initial momentum out of the gate but with Craig (Victor) being in foul trouble we had to find different type of answers and we did. (Brian) Bridgewater got some good buckets and we got some stops to end the first half. It wasn’t a great first half for us but it motivated us to come out differently in the second half.”
On the play where he went after the ball…
“I initially knocked the ball loose from (D.J.) Hogg. I saw it go all the way back. I saw it as he wasn’t really running for it so I decided that I might as well go for it. I knew it was a long shot to get to it but I said ‘why not’. I went for it and next thing I knew I dove and had two black jerseys on top of me.”
Point Forward Ben Simmons
On free-throw shooting…
“I’ve been missing a lot of free throws the last few games. I just took my time and focused when I had my chance.”
On the importance of having a good effort against Texas A&M…
“It was huge because they beat us on their home court. We try and defend our home court so every time we go out there we try and win. It was a great opportunity for us to get that win.”
On defending aggressively…
“They (the referees) were pretty consistent the whole game. We were able to figure out how they were calling the game. It helped us to play defense. (Aaron) Epps and (Brian) Bridgewater were able to come in and help a lot. When you have guys like that you have to be ready and physical.”
On beating the team in the half court…
“They are long and they have bigs so you don’t want to let them set up in the zone because they clog the court. We were able to push the ball and Tim (Quarterman) was able to find gaps. Keith (Hornsby) was hitting shots and Craig (Victor) was doing work inside. I think we played pretty well.”
On playing all forty minutes…
“I hate coming off the floor even if I have four fouls. I don’t want to come off. I feel like every time I’m on the floor that I can help my team win. I was just trying to take care of the ball and put my team in a good situation where we could get the win. People were stepping up.”
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TEXAS A&M HEAD COACH BILLY KENNEDY
Opening Statement…
“You have to give LSU credit. I thought they revved up their defense and offensively they just attacked us inside. Craig Victor was a big difference around the basket. I think he had 14 the second half and we had no answer for him. I thought we got out-toughed under the basket. You have to give LSU a lot of credit for doing that.”
On LSU’s hustle in the second half…
“I thought there was a loose ball play when we turned it over just by not being aggressive enough. I thought that revved up the crowd a little bit. It got them going to another level. It was a great crowd. That’s how it was when we were at our place. It was the other way around.”
On not having Anthony Collins today against LSU…
“It didn’t help that Anthony Collins is out. He is a big part of our team. He was throwing up in the first half. He has some kind of stomach virus. We had to play without him. Again, that is no excuse. Our guys are good enough to have won that game. We can’t turn it over that many times. We have to make tough plays around the basket defensively. I thought Craig Victor did what he wanted to do at times. We can’t let that happen.”
On what LSU did effectively today to win the game…
“We were up four or five in the second half. I thought we did a lot of good things, but we still had four or five bad plays that cost us. We let Ben Simmons catch it where he is comfortable and where we didn’t want him to catch it. We let Craig Victor be a factor on the offensive glass. Those are effort plays. We gave up 14 offensive rebounds. Seven of them were from Simmons and Victor. Most of them were from when they missed a shot. We didn’t hit them and get the rebound.”
On shooting 56 percent today but still falling short to LSU…
“Turnovers and free throws were the difference. You get outscored 17 free throws and give them ten more opportunities on turnovers. It makes it hard to win. We had our chances. That’s how well we did some other things. We will build off that. Our guys were good in practice. They were good today, but weren’t good enough. We played a very good LSU team who did some things they haven’t done before. You have to give them credit.”
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TEXAS A&M PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Danuel House
On the switch in LSU’s aggressiveness between the first and second half…
“That momentum play when the ball—I think it was DJ Hogg who lost the ball, he was chasing the ball down and (Alex) Caruso went to try to help him and the ball went out of bounds and the crowd gave them a lot of energy.”
On why A&M wasn’t able to get to the free-throw line very often…
“I felt like we were being aggressive but maybe we weren’t aggressive enough to get a call. We just have to go back to the drawing board and find ways to win on the road. We’re a good team; we just have to put pieces back together.”
On the upcoming three-game home stretch for A&M…
“It’s very important. It’s going to be a relief because the home crowd will be behind us. The teammates, including myself, need that extra push sometimes, that motivation to get a win, especially when you come off the road on a losing streak.”
On coming back from an early 16-8 deficit…
“Any time you can come back is a positive moment. We just have to guard and rebound and at that time we were guarding and rebounding and making sure they didn’t get second opportunities. When we did that, the results were good on our end, but when we started to let them rebound and get wherever they wanted to and get comfortable, they ended up taking the win.”
On LSU’s aggressiveness this game compared to the first matchup…
“I feel like it was the same. I feel like they were still trying to implement their plays, get Ben (Simmons) the ball in spots where he’s comfortable, and he did an excellent job of finding his teammates. This half, he got really comfortable. He attacked more, he had our bigs on their heels.”