Miller, LSU Stops Lift Tigers Past Arkansas State, 61-52
Justice Hill finished with 11 points, 3 assists for the Tigers.
BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers held Arkansas State scoreless for 7:05 at a point in the second half when the Red Wolves had closed the LSU lead down to just two points and the Tigers came away with a 61-52 win over A-State Saturday evening at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The win pushed the Tigers to 2-0 on the young season, while Arkansas State dropped to 1-1.
LSU fell behind for the first time all season, 10-9, at the 13:49 point of the first half, but Arkansas State’s lead was just over a minute and the Tigers led at intermission, 31-26.
The Tigers led by as much as 11 in the first four minutes of the second half but the Red Wolves would not go away and tried to chip away at openings in the LSU defense eventually getting the margin to two, 45-43, after an LSU turnover with 9:58 to play.
LSU on its next possession missed two shots but KJ Williams came up with an offensive board and a lay up for the 47-43 advantage. The teams wouldn’t score for some five minutes, but Adam Miller hit a three-pointer to push the margin to seven and then added two free throws and another three to make it 54-43 for the Tigers.
The run finished at the 2:50 mark when Williams off a Trae Hannibal steal scored on an emphatic dunk to make it 56-43 for LSU, sealing the game.
Miller for the second straight game hit four treys and 9-of-15 overall field goals to finish with 26 points in 39 minutes. Williams, who was saddled with first half foul trouble scored 15 points, hitting three treys and Justice Hill ad 11 points and three assists.
For the second straight game, LSU hit eight three-pointers (8-of-20, 40.0%). LSU hit 20-of-51 shots from the field (39.2), but 13-of-16 from the free throw line (81.3%).
Omar El-Sheikh led Arkansas State with 17 points and eight rebounds. The Red Wolves shot just 38.6 percent from the field (22-57) and made 5-of-25 three-point attempts.
In a statistical anomaly, Williams, Hill and Miller had all the field goals for LSU, going a combined 20-of-40 for the trio and 8-of-18 from the field.
For the second straight game, LSU forced two shot clock violations.
The Tigers are back at home to conclude the three-game homestand on Thursday night at 7 p.m. against UNO. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and streamed on SECN+.