ORLANDO, Florida – LSU point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. led an 8-0 run with five points and an assist in the final six minutes of the second half to push the Tigers past UCF, 75-68, in a men’s exhibition basketball game here Sunday afternoon at Addition Financial Arena.
The Tigers rallied from a 36-29 halftime deficit and controlled the last six minutes of the game to get the victory in LSU’s fourth ever exhibition game all-time against another Division I opponent. A rule change this season has allowed DI teams to play each other in basketball exhibitions.
LSU trailed 62-60 with 6:18 to play when Thomas drove the paint and hit a floater to tie the game at 62-62. The UNLV transfer was fouled on the play and dropped in a free throw to give LSU the lead for good at 63-60. UCF missed a long jumper on the next possession, and after a Marquel Sutton rebound, Thomas found Max Mackinnon for a three-pointer, taking the lead to 66-62 with 5:41 left.
The Knights missed a three pointer and off a Mackinnon rebound, Thomas got the ball and drove the paint for a layup and a 68-62 advantage with 4:50 to play, forcing a UCF timeout.
UCF never got closer than four the rest of the contest.
Thomas, led LSU with 16 points, nine assists and just two turnovers in 31 minutes of playing time. Thomas was 6-of-11 from the field with a trey and 3-of-4 at the line. Mike Nwoko had 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and 2025 Summit League Player of the Year, Marquel Sutton, had a double double with 14 points and 11 rebounds.
Sutton was 4-of-8 from the field with three treys and 3-of-4 at the line.
UCF was led by Riley Kugel with 21 points (three treys) with George Beale adding 18 points (four treys). The Knights hit 8-of-15 three-pointers in the first half, but was just 2-of-14 in the final 20 minutes.
“I thought our players did a good job of adjusting and defended the three-point line a lot better (in the second half),” said Coach Matt McMahon after the game. “Offensively, after throwing it all over the gym (I think both teams threw it all over the gym) the first half; but the second half we settled in and executed really well. DJ Thomas terrific job running the show. We won the three-point line in the second half, 6-of-10 there. I thought our players did a great job getting to the free throw line.”
Both teams turned the ball over 10 times in the opening half but UCF was able to get 11 points off turnovers and 13 points off of fast break transitions in the opening 20 minutes. The squads controlled the ball better in the second half with LSU turning over the ball over just five times (one in the first 12 minutes) and ended up with an 18-16 advantage in points off turnovers.
The Tigers finished the game shooting 47.3 percent (26-55) after making 15-of-28 from the field in the final 20 minutes. LSU made 10 total threes and was 13-of-19 at the free throw line.
UCF finished at 42.8 percent (26-of-61), making 10-of-29 three-pointers and 6-of-12 at the free throw line.
“The turnovers crushed us in the first half,” said Coach McMahon. “UCF was one of the fastest playing teams in the country last season and it looks to me watching the Duke game and today that they are trying to do the same thing. So by turning it over we were just fueling their transition game. I thought we did a better job securing the basketball in the second half. We got high quality shots and guys stepped up and knocked them down.”
Of Nwoko’s performance, “I thought Nwoko was terrific for us around the basket,” the fourth-year LSU Coach said. “He got four offensive boards. I’ve said it to our fans and media back home that he’s a lot more skilled as an offensive player than I anticipated and I thought you saw some of that today with his jump hooks down in the post. I thought he was very impactful there.”
Jalen Reed, who is returning from his ACL injury last December, played almost 11 minutes in the game while continuing his return to play and finished with six points and four rebounds. Mackinnon finished with three treys and nine points, Rashad King finished with eight points and Pablo Tamba scored six points and grabbed six rebounds.
Robert Miller III was held out of the exhibition game after tweaking his ankle in the closed scrimmage a week ago.
LSU opens the 2025-26 regular season on Wednesday, Nov. 5, against Tarleton State in the first of five home games in the first 16 days of the regular season. Season tickets, single game nonconference tickets and mini-plans are available at the LSU Athletic Ticket Office and online at LSUTix.net.