LSU MBB pulls away, beats New Orleans 93-58 Monday night

In a game against an in-state opponent who already had a high-major win under its belt, LSU had to be on alert and late in the first half everyone saw why. New Orleans would not back down, cutting LSU’s lead to 35-30 at the 3:17 mark of the first half. From there, LSU went on a 9-2 run to lead at halftime 44-32 and never looked back.

The Tigers used a 15-0 second half run to blow open the game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center and win 93-58 win over the University of New Orleans here Monday night. LSU is now 2-0 going into a Thursday contest with Florida International University at the Maravich Center.

UNO still trailed 46-35 when LSU methodically put the game away in the second half. After two free throws each by Mike Nwoko and Pablo Tamba, Dedan Thomas Jr., hit a layup to increase the margin to 17, 52-35, at the 15:09 mark.

A Tamba layup pushed the advantage to 19 and Jalen Reed scored in the paint to make it 56-35. That was followed on the next possession by a Reed rebound make and then a Reed 3-pointer from up top to make it 61-35 and a 26-point advantage with 12:46 to go in the contest.

LSU would lead by as much as 36 points in the final four minutes of the game after leading for all but the first 20 seconds of the contest.

LSU had four players in double figures with Nwoko leading the way with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 4-of-5 at the free throw line. Reed had 15 points in 17 minutes, hitting 6-of-10 from the field. Also with 15 points was Marquel Sutton with a strong double double adding 15 boards. Tamba also double doubled with 10 points, 10 boards.

Jakevion Buckley led the Privateers (1-1) with 12 points and eight boards, while Coleton Benson added 10 points.

LSU shot 43.7 percent for the game, including 50 percent (16-of-32) in the second half. LSU overall was 31-of-71, making 10-of-27 from distance and 21-of-29 from the free throw line. UNO shot just 29.9 percent (20-of-67) with six treys and 12-of-17 at the line.

The Tigers had another big rebound night, outrebounding the Privateers, 56-36, and had 21 assists on 31 made baskets as point guards Thomas and Jalen Reece combined for 12 assists (8 for Thomas, 4 for Reece) and just one turnover.

The Tigers posted a 42-28 advantage in points in the paint and had just seven turnovers for the game.

When the Tigers play on Thursday, the first 500 students will receive a free LSU hoodie and fans can get in for free by showing their football ticket to the LSU-Arkansas football game on Saturday.

Tickets are available at LSUTix.net and the LSU Athletics Ticket Office.
—

LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon Quotes 

Opening Statement
“I was really proud of our players and their presentation. We have tremendous respect for Coach (Stacy) Hollowell and what he’s building there at New Orleans. Their win last week at TCU was fantastic. They dominated the glass and have two all-league guards in (Jakevion) Buckley and (Coleton) Benson. I thought our guys were really dialed in to the plan of attack. I loved our unselfishness. We really wanted to cut down on the turnovers. Our first game we either scored or turned it over. This game we had 21 assists and only seven turnovers. I thought we had a great advantage of physicality and size in the post, and all our frontcourt guys were terrific.”

On the connection between (DJ) Thomas and (Michael) Nwoko… 
“I think Mike (Nwoko) does a great job of screening, and he’s such a good athlete, he puts a lot of pressure on the rim as a roller. As you’ve seen, DJ (Thomas) will find you. He’s very unselfish and has phenomenal floor vison. He sees things we as coaches don’t see. Having the floor properly spaced, we just let him operate. It’s been fun to watch them grow. They spend a lot of time together off the floor. You see the trust they have in each other, and I know they’ll just keep getting better. Jaylen Reece was fantastic at the point. Our point guards had 12 assists and only one turnover tonight. That’s great to see.”

On Marquel Sutton’s growth … 
“Marquel played at the four and the five last year at Omaha. He was the Summit League Player of the Year and took his team to the NCAA Tournament. We brought him here with the idea of moving him to the wing to play the three. He lives in the gym. He only knows one speed on the floor. He plays hard. I don’t know that I’ve seen a +45 (plus/minus). The amount of time he has spent, we’re talking tens of thousands of threes he’s made since walking on campus. It’s a testament to his work, but we’ve also challenged him. We don’t want him to lose what he’s really good at, which is around that bucket. He got 15 rebounds tonight. He was just relentless in his effort.”

Forward Mike Nwoko
On the emphasis on dominating in the paint early on this season…
“I truly feel like we’ve got the best frontcourt in the nation. Why would we not abuse that? I feel like we’re bigger and more skilled than most teams, from the wings to the bigs. Big shoutout to the guards today as well. At the end of the day, they’re the ones getting us the ball, so props to them.”

On the chemistry between him and DJ Thomas…
“It started with day one. Coming into the gym and just having regular conversations showed me I like this guy. The point guard/big man connection has to be important. We worked on it, obviously, we got some things to still work on because we’re not perfect, but big shout out to him. He’s an elite point guard and an elite player.”

On the offensive attack and the success it has produced…
“The main thing is trusting each other. We have no one on our team who’s selfish. We’ll give up a good shot for an even greater shot. Playing inside-out allows us to kick it out for a three, and we have great shooters on our team. They’ll keep shooting the ball, and us Bigs want them to keep shooting the ball.”

*LSU press release