BOX SCORE
BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers (2-0, 0-0 SEC) used a 15-0 run over five minutes and 15 seconds in the second half to pull away from the New Orleans Privateers (1-1, 0-0 Southland) for a 93-58 victory Monday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
MJ Thomas pulled down an offensive rebound surrounded by three Tigers before his off-balance putback drew an and-one free throw attempt with 18 minutes left in the contest.
Thomas sank the free throw, cutting the Tigers' lead to nine, but that was the last basket UNO would score until a pair of free throws from
Jakevion Buckley at the 12:24 mark made the score 61-37 LSU.
LSU outscored UNO 49-26 in the second half with 16 made baskets to UNO's nine. LSU outrebounded UNO 27-13 in the second half and 54-33 for the game. The Tigers controlled the paint with a 42-28 scoring advantage overall.
LSU took a 44-32 lead into the break after a buzzer-beating fast-break dunk from Robert Miller. The Tigers got off to a hot start from beyond the arc, connecting on five of their first seven 3-point attempts. At the break, LSU's Marquel Sutton had a trio of 3-pointers, while Dedan Thomas and Rashad King each had one.
LSU led by double digits for most of the opening frame, but the Privateers refused to quit. A steal by Buckley led to a miss from
Coleton Benson, but the Shelbyville, Texas, native was able to convert the backside rebound into a bucket. Buckley then took a charge from Dedan Thomas on the ensuing possession, giving the Privateers momentum.
Enzo Boudouma rattled home a left-wing 3-pointer before a Buckley free throw cut the Tigers' lead to five with 5:09 left in the half. A rim-rattling fast-break dunk from
TJ Cope seemed to give the Privateers more momentum with 1:10 to play, but the Tigers responded with a layup from Jaylen Reed and Miller's dunk to take a 12-point lead into halftime.
Buckley finished with a team-high 12 points and eight rebounds for the Privateers.
Churchill Abass scored eight points and had five rebounds. Thomas scored five points with four rebounds off the bench.
Michael Nwoko led the Tigers in scoring with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. He also pulled down five rebounds. Reed finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, and Sutton added 15 points and four made 3-pointers.
UP NEXT
The Privateers will make the trip across town to take on the Tulane Green Wave on Fri. Nov. 14. Tipoff from Fogelman Arena at Devlin Fieldhouse at 6:30 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN+, and free audio will be available on UNOPrivateers.com.
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