LSU basketball gets first win of Matt McMahon era
The LSU Tigers and the Matt McMahon era got off to a positive start with a 74-63 win over Kansas City Wednesday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU (1-0) will be back in action Saturday at 5 p.m. CT at the PMAC against Arkansas State. Tickets are available at the LSU Athletics Ticket Office and online at LSUtix.net.
The Tigers never trailed in the contest and led for 38:56 of the game, building a 41-34 halftime advantage on a long three-pointer by Justice Hill out of a time out with 3.4 seconds to play. LSU would lead by as much as 16 in the second half, 63-47, with 12:03 to play.
The Roos (0-2) would cut the game down to five points, 66-61, thanks to a 7-0 run with 5:37 left, but LSU would only allow Kansas City two points the rest of the way for the final margin.
Coach McMahon, with his family and lots of friends in attendance, would have to play 11 players in the first half as the Tigers got in some early foul trouble and those 11 were used throughout the game in different combinations.
KJ Williams, the OVC Player of the Year a season ago at Murray State, had his first LSU double double with 13 points and 14 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds. He also recorded three blocks. The Tigers leading scorer was Adam Miller, playing his first counting game since March of 2021, with 18 points.
Miller, who missed the entire 2021-22 season because of an ACL injury in the preseason, played 34 minutes and hit four three-pointers and had three rebounds and two assists.
Justice “Juice” Hill, who also transferred in from Murray State, had a good night with 13 points, seven assists and four steals to go with a plus-15 plus-minus rating.
Kansas City was led by Shemarri Allen with 19 points, with RayQuawndis Mitchell added 15.
LSU shot a consistent 42.1 percent over all for the night (24-of-57), with eight three-point makes. LSU was 18-of-26 at the free throw line. LSU shot 42.9 percent in the first half and 41.4 percent in the second half. LSU had 16 total assists off of 24 made field goals.
LSU held the Roos to 32.8 percent for the game (19-of-58) and just 4-of-25 from the arc. KC was 21-of-27 at the free throw line.
The Tigers outrebounded Kansas City, 45-38.
Saturday’s contest will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network including 100.7 FM in Baton Rouge (due to the LSU-Arkansas football postgame show). It will be streamed on SEC Network+.
It will be the second of three games at home to open the 2022-23 men’s basketball season.
Editor’s note: This is a press release from LSUSports.net
