All Sports Schedule
LSU Basketball Uses Big Second-Half Run for 86-70 Win Over UNOLSU Basketball Uses Big Second-Half Run for 86-70 Win Over UNO

LSU Basketball Uses Big Second-Half Run for 86-70 Win Over UNO

Daimion Collins

Box Score

BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers went on an 18-0 second-half scoring run to break open a tight game and score an 86-70 win over a stubborn UNO Privateers team Sunday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The Tigers are 10-2 entering the week-long Christmas holiday break. LSU’s final non-conference game is set for Dec. 29 at 6 p.m. CT against Mississippi Valley State.

LSU struggled from distance in the first half, missing their first nine shots and finishing 2-of-16 in the first 20 minutes. LSU, down 12-4 four minutes in, rallied to tie the game at 17-17. The teams played close the rest of the half with LSU up, 30-29, at intermission.

The game was tied at 14:53 at 38-38 in the second half when the 18-0 LSU run started with a three-pointer by Cam Carter. Robert Miller III, off a turnover, posted a layup to make it a 43-38. After Miller blocked a UNO layup attempt, LSU’s Dji Bailey and Curtis Givens III each hit three-pointers to push the LSU advantage to 49-38 with 12:35 to play.

Robert Miller got another block on UNO’s next possession and that led to a runout layup by Vyctorius Miller to advance the LSU lead to 13 and Vyctorius followed that bucket with a three-pointer on LSU’s next possession to advance the margin to 16 points for the Tigers.

The scoring run concluded when Carter off a length-of-the-floor runout, got a layup to make it 56-38 LSU with 11:11 to play.

The Tigers would lead by as many as 22 points in the second half.

Five Tigers were in double figures led by Vyctorius Miller’s 17 points. Carter had 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Corey Chest had 12 points and 10 rebounds. Bailey had 12 points, Jordan Sears scored 10, and Givens had five assists and no turnovers in 18 minutes. For Chest it was his third double double of the season and his sixth consecutive game with double figure rebounds.

Robert Miller III finished with seven rebounds and three blocks and was a +29 on the +/- stats for the contest.

UNO was led by James White who had 24 points and 11 rebounds, while Dae Dae Hunter had 14 points and MJ Thomas 11.

After shooting 19-of-38 in the second half, LSU finished the game at 45.7 percent (32-of-70) with seven treys and 15-of-21 at the free throw line. UNO finished the game 25-of-68 (36.8%) with six treys and 14-of-21 from the line.

The Tigers out rebounded UNO, 50-37.

The team headed out shortly after the conclusion of the game for a short Christmas break and will return to practice on Thursday evening in preparation for Sunday night’s contest. After playing Mississippi Valley next Sunday, the Tigers will face Vanderbilt in the SEC opener at home on Jan. 4.

Loading YouTube Video...

Post-Game Quotes

  • LSU vs. New Orleans
    December 22, 2024

    LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon

    Opening Statement…
    “A good way to finish the break going into Christmas. The first half, great credit to New Orleans for being disruptive on the defensive end of the floor. Defensively, we did a solid job there. They shot 31% and 20% from three, but I thought we had a lot of self-inflicted issues on our offensive end. I know everyone will see the 2-of-16 (shooting) from three and that’s not ideal, but I thought the bigger issue was the nine turnovers. The second half, our ball security was a lot better. We only turned it over four times, with a couple of them coming late. That’s what enabled us to score 56 points, be a lot more efficient offensively and stretch the lead out.”

    “To build the lead was exciting. That was when we went to the bench and some of our freshmen, like Curtis Givens, who went from five-to-zero on assist-to-turnovers. Vyctorius Miller scored again very effectively with his 17 (points). Robert Miller III, I think he only scored four points but I thought his impact on the game was huge. He had the highest plus/minus at +29 with seven defensive rebounds and he blocked three shots, I thought he was terrific. Our other freshman, Corey Chest, had his sixth-straight game with double-digit rebounds. I was really pleased with how the freshmen performed there and got us out to the 24-point lead.”

    On what he said to the team at halftime following a slow start…
    “I think the majority of those (first-half shots) were that we drove into the paint, their whole defense collapsed, and we kicked it out for the wide-open threes and just didn’t make them. More of my emphasis was on the turnovers. We made some really poor reads coming off of ball screens, and New Orleans did a good job defensively, but we literally threw it right to them. The message was ‘less home runs, more singles’ and just make the simple play. I thought we did that in the second half. We got easier looks and were able to get to the rim some more and finish plays.”

    LSU Guard Cam Carter
    On Coach McMahon’s words at halftime…
    “You know, Coach came in and you know he got on us. He made an emphasis about you know their offensive rebounding and stuff like that and you know we got on the boards. That’s really what it was I think.”

    On Freshman Guard Vyctorius Miller’s performance…
    “I think he could have had more, that’s just me though. But, you know, sometimes he’s a little hesitant. You know he hesitated a little bit about shooting the ball and I tell him ‘Man if you got space and you can see the rim, man, shoot the ball’. He’s a great shot man, like he’s one of the best shot makers I’ve ever seen.”

    On his successful rebounding this game…
    “So, my teammates, coach JC [Jalen Courtney-Williams], mainly Coach Matt, you know they were all on my behind about getting rebounds because I don’t really remember how many I had last time, but they were on me about it. Because, you know, they see the potential in me, you know, being a great you know rebounder. So yeah, they put an emphasis on it.”
    —
    UNO Head Coach Stacy Hollowell
    On the difference in performance in the two halves…
    “In the first half the ball moved a little bit better than it has. We made the right plays; the ball did not go down. We had a kick out extra pass to (Guard) Jah Short in the corner, it did not go down. We had (Guard) James White kick it out to (Guard) Dae Dae Hunter wide open, it did not go down. I thought we played the right way in the first half. We had a game plan and I thought we executed pretty well. At half, we were maybe down one on the glass, but we were right there with them on the boards and that is where it kind of got away from us. (LSU Guard) Vyctorius Miller knocked down some threes there and got rolling. We had all of our eggs in one basket with (LSU Guard Jordan) Sears and (LSU Guard) Cam Carter on the perimeter. We have seen it before, guys get going, (Texas Guard Jordan) Pope. That is going to happen and I think we did not play many guys in that first half through what I felt like was our biggest punch. It probably hurt us a little bit, if we are being honest. I am proud of our guys, I thought even when it got to 20, we thought, ‘Let’s not get this thing to 30.’ We are making strides and I think we will have a good shot in the conference.”

    On competing against LSU and their guards…
    “We challenged JR Jacobson and Dae Dae Hunter to get into those guys and put some ball pressure there. I thought JR answered the challenge there. If we could get him knocking down some shots from the perimeter, I think we have something.”