BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU men’s basketball team handed Louisiana Tech its first loss of the season, rolling past the Bulldogs, 90-50, on Monday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (3-0) has won 37 of its last 38 home games against in-state opponents, including a current nine-game winning streak, and improves to 14-1 all-time against Louisiana Tech (2-1), extending its winning streak in the series to five games. The Tigers also recorded their third consecutive victory by 40 or more points for the first time in program history.
Michael Ružić led LSU with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including a three-pointer, and added five rebounds. Abdi Bashir Jr. finished with 16 points on 5-of-12 shooting and knocked down four three-pointers.
Mo Dioubate added 15 points and a game-high six rebounds, while Donavan Dent rounded out LSU’s double-digit scorers with 12 points. Dent also led the Tigers with five assists, five steals and two blocks.
LSU shot 56.4 percent from the floor (31-of-55) and recorded 21 assists, marking its third consecutive game shooting better than 50 percent from the field. The Tigers connected on eight three-pointers (8-of-24), went 20-of-29 from the free-throw line and continued their dominance in the paint with a 40-24 advantage.
Defensively, LSU held Louisiana Tech to 31.6 percent shooting (18-of-57), including a 2-of-16 mark from 3-point range. The Tigers forced 23 turnovers, converting them into 38 points, and recorded 16 steals, tying for the third-most under head coach Will Wade.
Jaylen Fenner led Louisiana Tech with 12 points and added two steals in the loss.
LSU used a dominant opening half to take a 47-20 lead at the break. After allowing the opening basket, the Tigers responded with a 16-2 run to take control and eventually built a 28-point advantage. Bashir Jr. led LSU with 10 points, including two three-pointers in the opening 20 minutes.
The dominance continued after halftime as LSU scored the first 11 points to cap a 13-0 run spanning the two halves. The Tigers stretched their advantage to 82-29 following back-to-back triples from Bashir Jr. with 8:03 remaining. LSU's lead grew to as many as 55 points before the Tigers emptied the bench and secured the 90-50 victory.
LSU will next travel to Spokane, Washington, to face No. 14 Gonzaga at 2 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 14. The matchup will be played at Numerica Veterans Arena and televised on USA Sports.