After pulling away from the Grambling Tigers in the second half, the LSU Tigers won by a score of 78-57 to improve their record to 6-2. The Tigers have now won twelve straight games in the PMAC dating back to last season.
Tremont Waters led the scoring for LSU with 15 points, and added 4 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals to an impressive stat line. Waters struggled with turnovers in the Orlando trip, and this afternoon was no exception as he gave up the ball six times. He’s a phenomenal playmaker whose judgement I’ll usually defend, but he’s really gotten too comfortable dribbling into the paint with his head down.
Freshman Darius Days got the nod for a start today and answered the call with arguably LSU’s best performance. The 6’6” forward scored 13 points, snagged 3 steals from the offense, and finished only one rebound shy of a double-double.
Senior Kavell Bigby-Williams proved his rim-protecting hype against Grambling, whacking an incredible 9 blocks in his 24 minutes. He also tacked on 9 points, finishing only a point and a block shy of a double-double himself.
His 9 blocks are the most by an LSU Tiger since Tyrus Thomas in 2009.
Skylar Mays rounded out the double digit scoring for the Tigers, finishing with 10 points and 6 rebounds.
Naz Reid again didn’t start the game and only played for 18 minutes this afternoon. He finished with 8 points and converted the only three pointer he attempted, but shot a pretty embarrassing 1-of-9 from inside the arc. Though he helped in other ways with 7 rebounds and 2 assists, Reid finished the game on the bench after fouling out.
The Tigers tried out some new offensive looks which definitely seemed to flow well at times, but any time 19 turnovers are given up against Grambling, it’s a sign that more practice may be needed.
LSU will get that needed practice in the coming week and against their next opponent, the Incarnate Word Cardinals. The Cardinals are 4-5 with only one win being over a Division I opponent, and are currently rated 340th by KenPom. That game next Sunday will tip off at 1pm and will be televised on the SEC Network.