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Matt McMahon’s LSU Tigers men’s basketball team opened the 2023-2024 season with a bang, having their way with Mississippi Valley State in a 106-60 contest. Will Baker led all scorers with 29 points as the Tigers scored on nearly 2/3 of their possessions to start the season 1-0.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU started this contest firing on all cylinders, holding a 15-7 lead at the first media timeout. Grad transfer Will Baker had four quick points in those first five minutes.
The Tigers continued to put points on the board and separate themselves from the Delta Devils, outscoring Mississippi Valley State 9-2 to take a 24-9 lead at the under-12 media timeout of the first half. Tyrell Ward led all scorers with eight points for Matt McMahon’s group.
MVS closed the gap to 32-18 before LSU spaced it out again with an 8-3 run to make it 40-21 in favor of the Tigers with less than five to go in the contest. Baker continued to lead the way with 14 while LSU’s defense forced 10 turnovers to this point.
At the end of the 1st half, the Tigers held a 56-29 lead over the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State. LSU shot 59% from the field and 44% from downtown to really run away from their opposition. Baker’s 21 first-half points for LSU led all scorers. Tyrell Ward was also in double figures with 11.
LSU opened the second half on a 14-5 run as they continued to shoot the ball well and force mistakes from the opposition. Baker had 26 points to continue leading everyone while shooting 90% from the field. The Tigers forced 16 turnovers to this point in the game and had their way with the Devils.
At the under-12 media timeout, the Tigers added 11 more points to take an 81-37 lead with 11:44 remaining in the game. Baker had eight in the first eight minutes along with Jordan Wright’s eight points to lead LSU.
Scoring slowly started to diminish at the under-eight timeout, with both the Tigers and the Devils scoring just six points to put it at 87-43 with 7:56 remaining from the PMAC.
At the final media timeout, LSU held a 50-point lead with 3:52 remaining at 97-47. Will Baker continued to be the leading scorer with 29 while Rayquan Brown led MVS with 17 on the night.
The Devils were able to get a bit of a scoring run late, but it was too far gone as LSU went on to win 106-60 tonight inside the PMAC.
BIG NUMBER: 64.6%
LSU had 71 total possessions in the game, but 46 ended in points as the Tigers were very efficient offensively in their season opener.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Will Baker
The grad transfer had a huge first night in the Purple and Gold, scoring 29 points on 10-11 shooting. He added 7-8 from the charity stripe and a perfect 2-2 from three to lead the way for the Bayou Bengals.
UP NEXT: The Tigers will stay in Baton Rouge as they welcome Nicholls to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center Friday night with a 7:00 p.m. tip-off.