After snapping their seven-game losing streak with an 82-79 win over the Oklahoma Sooner, the LSU Tigers men’s basketball team returned home to face South Carolina. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead and were in control throughout Tuesday night’s contest, defeating the Gamecocks 81-67 to improve to 14-12 on the season and 3-10 in SEC Conference play.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU’s offense started hot in the opening minutes of the game.
The Tigers knocked down four of their first five shots to take a 10-4 lead three and a half minutes in. Freshman guard Vyctorius Miller knocked down a pair of three-pointers and found Daimion Collins for the mid-range jumper. Collins on the previous possession assisted on Dji Bailey’s layup.
South Carolina cut it to a one-point difference multiple times as Collin Murray-Boyles scored twice in the paint, including a tip-in off a miss from Morris Ugusuk.
There wouldn’t be another made basket by either team for the next two and a half minutes. The only points scored were a pair of free throws for LSU from Robert Miller III. The drought was snapped when Miller III tossed the basketball to Corey Chest, who threw down a dunk at the 11:46 mark. Those points were part of an 11-3 run that lasted over four minutes. Mike Williams III, Jordan Sears, and Miller III all scored during the run with Sears hitting a three to put the Tigers up 23-14. The lone score for the Gamecocks was an Arden Conyers from downtown.
LSU then went on a quick 8-0 run as Williams III knocked down a pair of three balls to extend his team’s lead to 13 with under six and a half minutes left in the first half.
It was even scoring over the remainder of the first half. Late into it, Cam Carter took over and scored seven points late with a layup, a shot from behind the arc, and then threw down a vicious one-hand slam. For South Carolina, Conyers hit his second three and Murray-Boyles scored again in the paint with another layup.
On LSU’s final possession, Bailey scored with two seconds left and helped send the Tigers into the half with a 41-27 lead over the Gamecocks. The Bayou Bengals were shooting 57% from the floor at the break.
Coming out of the locker room, Collins had a putback before South Carolina went on a 7-0 run to cut their deficit to nine. Jamarii Thomas scored on back-to-back possessions and Jakobi Wright found Nick Pringle for the dunk.
After that, LSU went on a 16-8 run. Curtis Givens III started the run with a three, his first made shot of the evening while Bailey and Miller scored in the midrange area. Then, Carter hit a pair of threes and Corey Chest capped off the run with a putback layup. That run put the Tigers up 59-42 with 11:39 to go in the second half.
Thomas continued to be a consistent score for South Carolina, scoring nine points in three minutes to try and keep the game from getting way out of hand. LSU however continued to put the ball through the hoop as they had 22 points through the final 11 minutes. The Tigers didn’t stop making threes either as Sears, Williams III, Miller, and Bailey all put up one more late to help secure the win.
At the final buzzer, LSU came out on top in dominant fashion, beating South Carolina 81-67, pushing their record to 14-12 and 3-10 in SEC play. The loss for the Gamecocks puts their record at 10-16 and winless in the conference.
BIG NUMBER: 13
On average, the Tigers made seven three-point shots per game since entering conference play. On Tuesday, the Bayou Bengals knocked down 13 threes compared to the Gamecocks’ six. South Carolina also turned the basketball over 18 times and LSU had just 10 in the win.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cam Carter
LSU’s senior guard had another good night, scoring a team-high 17 points on 7-14 shooting and was 3-7 from the three-point line. Carter also had four rebounds and two steals in the 81-67 win over the South Carolina Gamecocks to improve his team’s record to 14-12 and 3-10 in conference play.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers men’s team will return to action on Saturday, February 22nd when they host the Florida Gators. Tip-off in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center is set for 5:00 p.m. The action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.