AUBURN, Ala. – The LSU men’s basketball team showed no ill effects from a heartbreaking loss on Saturday and rebounded with an 80-68 victory over Auburn Tuesday night at the Auburn Arena.
It marked the second straight year that LSU has won at the Auburn Arena by double digits and with losses by Kentucky and South Carolina, the LSU Tigers moved into sole possession of second place after play on Tuesday at 7-2 at the halfway point of the league. The 14-8 Tigers were the only one of the three teams tied for second to win on the road on Tuesday.
The Tigers put the game away in a 14:30 stretch that covered the final 3:09 of the first half and the first 11:21 of the second half as LSU made 18-of-22 field goals and had one stretch of 11 straight makes.
During that basic period of the game, LSU took the lead from 29-24 advantage over Auburn to 62-43 in favor of the visiting Tigers.
Ben Simmons didn’t quite reach the magic 22 mark in points in which LSU has an 8-1 record when he hits for 21 or more but he did just about everything else over the course of 36 minutes. Simmons hit 9-of-15 field goals and 3-of-6 free throws to post 21 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
Craig Victor II had 13 points and eight rebounds for LSU, while both Keith Hornsby and Josh Gray had 10 each. Auburn was led by Bryce Brown who hit six treys for 18 points, while Cinmeon Bowers had 15 points and Kareem Canty had 14.
Simmons established his presence early getting 17 first half points and nine rebounds as Auburn led for just 2:13 in the game and held the lead at 12-11 with 13:45 to go. Simmons scored to make the game 13-12 and then a jumper to go up 15-12. Tennessee counted with a three to tie the game and then after a Simmons dunk, Kareem Canty had a three for Tennessee’s last lead at 18-17 before a three by Jalyn Patterson, a free throw by Ben Simmons, a jumper by Hornsby and then among Tennessee baskets three straight scores by Simmons to make LSU’s lead at seven, 29-22, with 8:01 to go in the first half.
LSU would lead by seven at the half, 38-31.
The Tigers would lead by as much as 21 points in the game, 70-49, on a Victor tip-in at the 7:56 mark.
Auburn would rally to close within 10 points with 1:25 to play, but the Tigers were able to hold off any real threats the rest of the way.
LSU shot 60.7 percent in the second half of the game (17-of-28) after going 17-of-32 in the opening 20 minutes of play. For the game, LSU shot 56.7% (34-of-60). Auburn was just 23-of-63 for the game or 36.5%, and while the home Tigers hit 10 treys, they were just 10-of-34 from the arc. Auburn made 12-of-22 free throws while LSU was 9-of-17.
LSU had a 46-20 advantage in the paint and 21-11 in points off turnovers. LSU’s 21 points came off 14 Auburn turnovers. Auburn’s 11 points came off 18 total turnovers for LSU.
For Simmons, it was his league-leading and nation’s freshman player leading 16th double double of the season.
The Tigers are back in action Saturday at 5 p.m. against Mississippi State at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The game will be televised by ESPN2 and broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network.
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LSU Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening Statement …
“We knew coming in, with this being another conference road game, that it was going to be tough. I thought we did a great job coming in really focused, getting off to a great start, making plays and then finishing the game the way that we needed to against this Auburn basketball team. I thought we went in the half with a little momentum and then came out in the second half and played like we needed to. I am excited about being able to finish the game strong against a team that we know beat Kentucky and Alabama here. We knew that the energy that they play with here would make it an important game and tough game for us, and I am excited about the victory.”
On Ben Simmons being more assertive early in the game…
“I think it was just the flow of the game. Ben (Simmons) is always aggressive and he gets after it. I think he has done a great job of taking care of chance opportunities for us. When the defense gives him opportunities, especially in the open floor, he is great at attacking. Tonight, he saw those opportunities, and I thought he was able to make those plays early.”
LSU’s Craig Victor II, F, So.
On when the tide turned in the second half…
“I would say we definitely came on (in the second half). We capitalized on our offense. We have these things called “kills,” which is when we get three stops in a row, and I think we had nine tonight, so that definitely helped us out.”
LSU’s Ben Simmons, F, Fr.
On being more assertive and aggressive tonight…
“I definitely just wanted to be more aggressive and attack the rim more. I know that usually, when I take shots, they fall. Just looking at stats from previous games, when I shoot more than seven times, we win games. I knew that coming down and being able to attack the rim and put shots up that it would help the team.”
On being close to a triple-double…
“At the end, I was aware, but I was just happy with a win.”
On the mindset coming into the second half…
“Tim (Quarterman) obviously came out because he was hurt, but I think we just needed to lock in and focus, and we just didn’t do that for a small part of that game, and it really showed. They got back into it, but we were able to keep them off.”
Auburn Head Coach Bruce Pearl
Opening statement…
“ From a positive standpoint, it is the first time our bench has played this well. I thought Cinmeon (Bowers) and Bryce (Brown) both played really well off the bench. They both competed and gave us a little bit of punch. Horace Spencer was excited about playing Craig Victor and Ben Simmons. He played with Victor at Findlay (Prep) in his shadow. Findlay and Montverde (Academy) meet a lot throughout the course of the season. Ben Simmons is a great player, and you can see why he is so effective and such a valuable player because he can score, he can create and he can finish. He makes everyone else better around him. Our game plan was to try to wall him off and get him to take contested shots. We never really did wall him off. He was able to go by and get to the rim and get too close. I thought we could’ve done a better job defensively with him building that wall and getting him to take contested shots. I think the last thing would be, when we go back and watch that film, I think in the first half we probably missed six or seven shots two feet from the basket. We missed them with our bigs having switched down on their guards, and we should have been able to score at a much higher rate than that. Those are some big factors as to why we weren’t successful.”
On getting to the free throw line and drawing fouls…
“It is pretty hard to explain. There is enough transition out there and enough possessions that Kareem (Canty), especially because he has the ability to go by. Bryce Brown has the ability to go by. Those are probably my two guards that can. TJ Lang did a great job of not leaving him and arriving on the catch, and we didn’t do a very good job of getting him open and getting him looks. But right now he doesn’t have the ability to go by you. Jordon (Granger) is not going to go by you, Pat (Keim) is not going to go by you, so welcome to my world.”
On Kareem Canty struggling the past few games…
“He has to do a lot out there. He has a lot on him. We try to play him a little bit less and keep him a little fresher today. I thought there were times where he could have gotten to the rim because they couldn’t stay in front of him. I think our guys are competitors, and to be honest with you, the losing is tough. It is tough on everybody, but it is really tough on the kids because they understand that night in and night out, as we talked about prior to Kentucky coming in, we are not going to be favored in another game. That’s hard to put your kids in that situation and it is a lot on them. Not having success wears on them, and it is wearing on all of them.”
Auburn’s Bryce Brown, G, Fr.
On better shooting performance against LSU…
“I’ve been talking to the coaches and everything. They needed me to get in the gym more, so I did that. I’ve been putting up a lot of shots lately, especially for this game. I really didn’t notice I was in a slump until the past couple of games honestly, and then I looked at my numbers and I wasn’t proud of it at all. I was real disappointed in them. So, I decided to get in the gym, got up a lot of shots before this game, and I think that’s the reason why I had my success tonight.”
On what went wrong as a team…
“Tonight we could have played a little better defensively. Ben (Simmons) had a lot of easy points. We cut down on those points and locked in on him a little bit better, but we also got outplayed on the boards, loose balls, 50-50 balls, lost out on those as well. We are trying to come around, but we’ve got to play harder as a team honestly. That’s our biggest problem and rebounding is another big problem for us as well.”
On rolling ankle late in the game…
“It’s just a hard play. I went up for a layup at the end of the game and just came down on Ben’s [Simmons] foot. I just tweaked it a little bit. I should be fine though, I just have to see what the trainer says.”
On facing a player as good as Ben Simmons…
“It’s an honor to play against him, but at the same time, of course, you want to go at him as well. It was pretty good experiencing playing against him, but like I said, we just have to do a better job of locking in on him. We could’ve kept him off the boards a little bit more in the first half. In the second half, he got a lot of easy buckets like I said.”
On team having to play its way back into the game early in the first half…
“It’s not the first time we’ve seen that, we’ve played down a lot. The past few games we’ve been playing down from the get go. That’s one thing we’re working on as a team, just trying to come out of the gate strong and finish strong. We haven’t been able to do that lately. Like I said, we just have to come together and continue to do that. Right out of the gate, we’ve got to play hard. I think that’s what we’ve been struggling trying to do.”
On what the toughest challenge is on facing a player like Ben Simmons…
“The toughest challenge was really us staying in front of him, and not only that, he has shooters on the wings that can knock it down. That was pretty much the toughest part and keeping him off the glass. I mean he can really do a lot of things in this game.”
Bryce Brown, G, Fr.
On better shooting performance against LSU…
“I’ve been talking to the coaches and everything. They needed me to get in the gym more, so I did that. I’ve been putting up a lot of shots lately, especially for this game. I really didn’t notice I was in a slump until the past couple of games honestly, and then I looked at my numbers and I wasn’t proud of it at all. I was real disappointed in them. So, I decided to get in the gym, got up a lot of shots before this game, and I think that’s the reason why I had my success tonight.”
On what went wrong as a team…
“Tonight we could have played a little better defensively. Ben (Simmons) had a lot of easy points. We cut down on those points and locked in on him a little bit better, but we also got outplayed on the boards, loose balls, 50-50 balls, lost out on those as well. We are trying to come around, but we’ve got to play harder as a team honestly. That’s our biggest problem and rebounding is another big problem for us as well.”
On rolling ankle late in the game…
“It’s just a hard play. I went up for a layup at the end of the game and just came down on Ben’s [Simmons] foot. I just tweaked it a little bit. I should be fine though, I just have to see what the trainer says.”
On facing a player as good as Ben Simmons…
“It’s an honor to play against him, but at the same time, of course, you want to go at him as well. It was pretty good experiencing playing against him, but like I said, we just have to do a better job of locking in on him. We could’ve kept him off the boards a little bit more in the first half. In the second half, he got a lot of easy buckets like I said.”
On team having to play its way back into the game early in the first half…
“It’s not the first time we’ve seen that, we’ve played down a lot. The past few games we’ve been playing down from the get go. That’s one thing we’re working on as a team, just trying to come out of the gate strong and finish strong. We haven’t been able to do that lately. Like I said, we just have to come together and continue to do that. Right out of the gate, we’ve got to play hard. I think that’s what we’ve been struggling trying to do.”
On what the toughest challenge is on facing a player like Ben Simmons…
“The toughest challenge was really us staying in front of him, and not only that, he has shooters on the wings that can knock it down. That was pretty much the toughest part and keeping him off the glass. I mean he can really do a lot of things in this game.”