LSU men’s basketball opened its season with a blowout, rolling past LSU New Orleans 100-57 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday.
That kind of result came with a few clear takeaways, and the first one was hard to miss: LSU finally looked like a team with something close to a full roster. After playing its first two exhibition games with just five players and then using eight in the third and final exhibition against Florida State, the Tigers had a near-complete group of 14 available for the opener. Head coach Will Wade had been eager to get there.
”We’re excited to get going,” Wade said on Oct. 29. “We’ve played in these exhibition games, and we’re looking forward to playing a real game.”
The eligibility situation was still part of the story on game day. Wade had been forced to shuffle his starting five throughout the exhibitions because of the roster chaos, and center Gilad Levy was only cleared hours before tipoff after receiving a military service exemption tied to his three years in the Israel Defense Forces.
Once the game started, LSU wasted no time separating itself. The Tigers put together a huge first half, with three players reaching double figures before the break: forward Saliou Niang, center Brice Dessert and guard Donovan Dent. Niang finished the half with 11 points on 4-for-6 shooting, Dessert also had 11 points while going 5-for-7, and Dent led the way with 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting.
LSU got another boost from the bench in the opening 20 minutes, where center Michael Ružić scored 12 points to pace the team. Guards Divine Ugochukwu and Abdi Bashir Jr. added 6 and 5 points, respectively. Skyy Clark, meanwhile, was quiet to start and didn’t score in the first half despite three shot attempts.
On the other side, LSU New Orleans had almost no room to breathe. The Privateers made just five shots in the first half, shooting 18.5% on 27 attempts. Starters Singleton and Nwakamma led the team with three points apiece, Jones had two, and Okey and Boudauma were held scoreless.
By halftime, LSU was already up 53-17, a 36-point cushion that basically ended the night early.
The second half was less sharp for the Tigers, even with the game long out of reach. LSU New Orleans shot 10-for-34 after the break, while LSU went 18-for-39. Clark finished scoreless on the night despite four attempts.
Dent, Mouhamed “Mo” Dioubate and Levy each added 8 points in the second half. Dent went 3-for-7, Dioubate was perfect at 3-for-3, and Levy finished 3-for-5. Dessert scored 7 more, Bashir Jr. added 6, Ružić had 5 and Ugochukwu chipped in 2.
One area that didn’t fully cooperate was LSU’s outside shooting. The Tigers made just 3 of 11 from 3-point range, finishing at 25% from deep. Even so, that still topped LSU New Orleans, which hit only one 3-pointer all game on 12 attempts.
For all the scoring fireworks, the biggest difference from LSU’s exhibitions was on the defensive end. The Tigers looked far more solid there than they had earlier in the preseason, and that showed up in the final margin.
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