LSU locks down Drake, gets quality win in Destin 71-62

LSU’s defense shut down a quality Drake team and the Tigers used two 10-0 runs in the first half of play to gain control and score a 71-62 win over Drake Friday night in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic at Raider Arena on the campus of Northwest Florida State College.

The Tigers fell behind in the first half after a 7-0 Drake run, 12-10, before its first 10-0 run which started with a Dedan Thomas Jr., three-pointer to give LSU the lead back for good, 13-12, with 11:46 to go in the first half. Marquel Sutton followed with a bucket with Thomas getting a layup for two more point and Rashad King hitting a triple off a Drake turnover to make the LSU lead, 20-12 with 9:48 to go in the first 20 minutes.

Later in the half, LSU was up 23-17 with 7:02 to play and LSU posted another 10-0 run as following layups by King and Pablo Tamba, Mike Nwoko scored LSU’s next six points to push the advantage to 33-17 with 4:12 to go before halftime.

LSU would lead, 71-62, at the half.

Drake made a couple of runs at LSU in the second half, closing to within six points with 52 seconds left, but the Tigers, despite their worst night of the season from the line, made the ones that counted toward the end to send LSU to 6-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season, the last year the Tigers were in and captured the championship of the Emerald Coast Classic.

Thomas had 18 points and five assists to lead LSU, with Nwoko finishing with 14 points and Max Mackinnon 11 points and four assists.

Jalen Reed left the game late in the second half with what described as a potential ankle issue, but no details were available after the contest.

Jalen Quinn scored 20 to lead Drake with Jaehshon Thomas getting 16 and Griffen Goodbary 10. Drake drops to 4-3 on the young season.

LSU shot 46.4 percent for the game (26-of-56), but just 5-of-19 from distance (26.3%). LSU was 14-of-22 from the free throw line. Drake came in at 36.1 percent (22-of-61), making 8-of-30 from deep (26.7%) and a healthy 10-of-13 at the line.

LSU outrebounded Drake, 41-34, and had a 40-20 advantage in points in the paint. LSU led for 38:18 of the contest, while Drake led for 14 seconds.

The Tigers will face DePaul, a 75-61 winner over Georgia Tech in the other semifinal game. That contest will be at 6 p.m. Saturday and televised on the CBS Sports Network. The broadcast will be with JD Byars and Coach John Brady will be available in the Baton Rouge area on Guaranty Media affiliate WTGE-FM, 100.7 The Tigers.
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Matt McMahon postgame quotes

Opening Statement
“I really liked our defensive effort and intensity tonight. I think Drake’s got a really good team. They don’t beat themselves. Defending the three-point shot, we knew was going to be really critical. They made 11 in their win at Charleston the other day. To limit them to 8-of-30 was key for us. Then in the second half, we were 0-of-1 from the free throw line in this first half which has been a strength of ours. Drake is second in the country in fewest free throws allowed. We got there 21 times in the second half on a night where we weren’t shooting it well. I thought that was a big key for us.”

On stopping Drake’s three point shot…
“That’s what we talked about with our players. We expected them to take 30 or more (three-point attempts). We told our players we can’t let them come out and make 12 or 14 of them. I thought our guys did a really good job. We forced their five men to take eleven threes on the night. They are lower percentage guys. I thought that was really important for us. We couldn’t put them away. I thought we had some opportunities there where we’re up 10 or up 12. We miss an open three, we got the offensive rebound and kick it out and miss another open three. We just couldn’t finish them. but it was good for us. We played in five games that weren’t close. To get in some of those situations, we made a big mistake there in the last minute. So we can learn from that and get better. All in all, it’s a good win for us over a really good team. Drake had won their last three SEC games, been to the tournament four years in a row. We’re thankful to win and excited to play again (Saturday).”

*LSU press release