Coach Wade speaks to media before heading to Florida for first SEC road game of the Season...12/31/2020 12/31/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! Will Wade held his weekly press conference this morning to discuss his team and answer questions from the media... The 6-1 LSU Tigers will travel to Gainesville to play the Gators on Saturday at 1pm. The game will be on CBS... It will be the team's first SEC road game of the season... Below is a video of the press conference for your viewing... Geaux Tigers!
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12/29/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! BATON ROUGE: The LSU basketball team would open up SEC play with their 7th straight win against Texas A&M, 77-54 on Tuesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. On a night when team leaders Javonte Smart and Trendon Watford would struggle to score, (6 points between them), this LSU squad would show their poise, talent and depth as they would display the offensive fire power this team is capable of. Cam Thomas continues to shine while Darius Days has molded himself into LSU's Mr. everything. His hard, steady play, scoring from anywhere on the floor, and strong rebounding is a team confidence builder. Improvement on defense shown in the ball game tonight was a very positive step in the right direction as the Tigers would cruise to an impressive victory. LSU is now 6-1 overall, 1-0 in SEC play. Below is "Da Boot Sports" Game Break Down..... 1st HALF: In a battle between teams with different offensive styles, Texas A&M would do a great job of slowing the ball down keeping the game flow at the slow half court pace. A pace they prefer to play. The Aggies would get on the board first as Andre Gordon would bang in a three pointer one minute into the contest. Darius Days would respond with a layup and draw a foul, putting him at the line to complete the three point play tying things up early at 3-3. Both teams would play even early on as we would continue to have a tie game at the 14:23 mark, 9-9, before Gordon would hit another three for the Aggies to go up 12-9. From that point the Tigers would go on a 8-0 run over the next three minutes of play, putting the score at 17-12 with 10:34 left on the clock. With seven minutes to go in the 1st half, LSU would begin to pick up the game's tempo as they would begin to push the ball up the floor quickly, taking quick shots. Cameron Thomas would also begin to heat up after a slow start, hitting a three pointer at the 7:03 mark, putting LSU up 25-18. A minute later Darius Days would hit from three point land to extend the Tigers lead to 10, 28-18... Thomas would then score eight straight on three trips down the court with a layup and two three pointers, pulling LSU away, 35-20 with 2:25 left. The Tigers would control the final two minutes of the period, taking a 41-27 lead into the halftime break. Both Darius Days and Cameron Thomas would lead LSU in scoring at the half with 13 points each, while Charles Manning Jr. would add six in his solid minutes of play. The Tigers would end the first half shooting 16-30 from the floor for 53.3%.., While going 5-12 from behind the 3 point arc for 42%, and a perfect 4-4 from the charity stripe. The Tigers would also lead in rebounds, 20-14.... 2nd HALF: The Tigers would come out in the 2nd half and begin to flex their muscles as they would continue to control the pace of the contest, forcing the Aggies away from their half court comfort zone. It was obvious that A&M simply couldn't match LSU's athleticism in the up tempo style of play. Cam Thomas would open the second period scoring on a jumper a minute in to increase the Tigers lead to 16 points. The Aggies would only manage to pull to within 11 of the Tigers, 46-35 with 16:26 on the clock. From there the Tigers would never look back going on a 18 to 7 run over the next six minutes. LSU would lead by as much as 26 points, 70-44 at the 7:56 mark. LSU's improved defensive play would frustrate the Aggies down the final stretch, as the Tigers would win their SEC season opener in blowout fashion, 77-54. POST GAME TALK: True freshman Cameron Thomas would score a career high 32 points to lead the team. Darius Days was a force all night long, finishing with a double-double on the night, 18 points and 10 rebounds. LSU would finish the night shooting 47% from the floor, hitting 30-64 attempts. Only 9-27 from three point land, 33%, while going 8-9 from the free throw line for 89%. The Tigers out rebounded A&M 40-31 and only turned the ball over ten times. Will Wade's team played all game long with a poised and relaxed style. All that seems to be missing is that mean streak. If this young team could learn to develop a mean streak, things could get very ugly for their opponents. Next up LSU will travel to Gainesville to take on the Florida Gators on Saturday, January 2nd. The game will be shown on CBS... On Radio 98.1 FM, Tip Off is scheduled for 1:00pm Photos By: LSU/SEC PLAYERS POST GAME QUOTES: LSU vs Texas A&M LSU Players December 29, 2020 Forward Darius Days On playing with Cam Thomas and how he played tonight … “Phenomenal. He is one of the guys that I am glad we have on the team. He can stuff the sheet with points. He rebounds well. He does a lot of good things for us. He just works. He is a worker. Day in and day out, he is in here shooting. That’s why he is making the shots that he makes. He is in the gym every day and putting up shots.” On his own success tonight … “I didn’t force anything. I just made open shots. I was on the glass. I got a couple put backs. I got an and one. I got a free throw in. I was just doing the little things. Nothing too outrageous and out of my body. I was just doing my job.” Guard Cameron Thomas On if getting SEC Freshman of the Week motivated him tonight … “Not at all because it was my first SEC game, and I was hyped up. I felt like I was ready for the challenge, regardless of the award.” On his confidence when shooting the ball … “It was a great night for me. I prepared very well. I was very confident in what I came in to do.” On what it’s been like the last few games for him … “Just my preparation and rhythm. I am getting a better rhythm. For my preparation, I’ve been shooting shots before the game and in practice. I’ve just been getting shots up on my own, so I feel like I’m in more of a rhythm now than I was the past few games.” 12/28/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Kent Lowe LSU’S CAM THOMAS EARNS SECOND SEC FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK HONOR BATON ROUGE – LSU guard Cameron Thomas was named the Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week the league announced on Monday afternoon. The Tigers open SEC play Tuesday night at 6 p.m. in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against Texas A&M. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised on the SEC Network. Thomas, 6-4, 210-pounds from Chesapeake, Virginia scored 29 points to go with three rebounds, two assists and a block in an 86-80 win over Nicholls on Saturday. Thomas converted 47.6 percent (10-of-21) field goals in the game and was 7-of-7 at the free throw line. It was his fourth game with 20 or more points and the third time he made 10 field goals this season. He was also named SEC Freshman of the Week after the first week of the season in November when he scored 27 points against SIUE and 25 at Saint Louis. 12/26/2020 By: Jordan Taylor Da Boot Sports! After a long 12 days off due to COVID-19 protocol we finally get to see Will Wade's basketball team hit the court again. The Tigers will be without a key starter in today's 1pm tip off against Nicholls as Javonte Smart will not dress out, (reason unknown). Coach Will Wade will go with a different looking starting five today as Eric Gaines would get the start filling in for Smart, joining Cameron Thomas, Mwani Wilkinson, Darius Days, and Trendon Watford. With COVID playing a major factor in college sports this year, LSU ended up being the next team to be affected as they were forced to cancel their last four games with three of those four home games. Also noted, Will Wade and other coaching staff members have completed their quarantine and are back full staff for today's mid day contest with the Colonels. LSU came into the contest 4-1, with Nicholls sitting at 2-3. Below is our "Da Boot Sports" game breakdown 1st HALF: Both teams came out blazing to start the game with a fast scoring pace as the Colonels would control the opening tip. It wouldn't take long for the scoring to get going as Jeremiah Buford would drain a three for our first points of the evening. LSU would answer in a hurry with talented freshman Cameron Thomas scoring a basket. Would rust and fatigue play a factor for LSU early? Will Wade would answer that question playing ten guys in the first half to keep everyone fresh and rested. Nicholls did some good things in the first half especially with their ball movement and draining the shock clock all the way down before taking their shots. The Colonels would give LSU all they could handle and more playing with energy and intensity before the Tigers would eventually settle down and begin to pull away with a double digit lead, 25-14 at the 13:10 mark. The pesky Colonels would again begin to give the Tigers fits as they would go on a 10-5 run over the final 3:49 of the half to pull to within five at the break, 44-39. Nicholls would surprisingly out rebounded the Tigers in the first half. LSU also had a really pour shooting effort from behind the three point line. Some positives in the first half include, LSU shooting 52% from the field as well as a solid effort from the free throw line. LSU's largest lead of the first half was 11. Trendon Watford led LSU in scoring and rebounds in the first half with 15 points and 4 rebounds. Cook, Leblanc, & Manning saw several quality minutes off the bench for the Tigers. 2nd HALF: The start of the second half strong as they would race back out to a 11 point lead, 53-42, three minutes in. Trendon Watford's presence in the paint would overwhelm the Colonels at times, but a well coached Nicholls team would continue to play with a lot of fight keeping the game close while shoot extremely well as they would slowly chip away at the Tigers lead. LSU ended up playing a sloppy second half as they would get out rebounded, and torched in the paint, finding their lead sitting at only 68-65 at the 10:13 mark. Nicholls would ramp up the defensive pressure around the 7 minute mark but LSU would never let go of the lead and twice during the final four minute stretch would have a 10 point lead. The Colonels refused to be intimidated by the more talented Tigers as they would continue to out hustle LSU. In the final few minutes Coach Wade would use Shareef O'Neil on the defensive side and Thomas on the offensive side in key moments down the stretch. The Tigers would have to rely on free throws and a strong defensive effort after not making a field goal in the final 4:33. With 1:01 remaining in the game, Nicholls would score five points on two straight, quick possessions cutting LSU's lead to 85-80 with :42 ticks left. Jalen Cook would add a free throw and Mwani Wilkinson would grab a steal to end the contest with a final score of 86-80. Cameron Thomas had a career night with an outstanding 2nd half, leading the team in scoring with 29 points. Without Javonte Smart, LSU wouldn't blink on the offensive side of the ball as three Tigers combined for 66 points between Thomas (29 pts.), Watford (22 pts.), and Days (15 pts.).. Trendon Watford would fall one rebound shy of a double double with another big night in his return. LSU would shoot 55% from the field and continue to shoot well from the free throw line going 20-28. Today's win marks the 6th straight game in which the Tigers score 80+ in a game. The Tigers are now 5-1 on the season and need to shift gears towards SEC play. Next up for the Tigers will be a date with the Texas A&M Aggies to open up SEC play on Tuesday Dec 29th in Baton Rouge. To watch the game live it will be on the SEC Network or you can listen on 98.1 FM. Photos By: Grant Jarreau
12/24/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Kent Lowe BATON ROUGE – In a late Christmas Eve switch, the LSU Athletics Department announced Thursday night that the basketball Tigers will now host Nicholls at 1 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 26) at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Both the opponent and the tip time has changed for the game. Season ticket holders will have their mobile tickets adjusted with the new opponent and game time during the day on Friday. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised on the SEC Network. Nicholls is 2-3 on the season. The LSU-Nicholls game replaces a game scheduled earlier this week for Saturday afternoon (Dec. 26) against Texas Southern. Texas Southern was forced to withdraw from the game Thursday in accordance with NCAA COVID-19 protocols in their program. 12/21/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Kent Lowe BATON ROUGE – The LSU men's basketball team will return to play on Saturday afternoon at 4 p.m. at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. The Tigers will host Texas Southern University in a game that will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Radio Network and televised on the SEC Network. Texas Southern is coached by former LSU player and coach Johnny Jones. Season ticket holders will receive a new mobile ticket for the game through their normal email outlets and normal parking passes will be used for the game. Gates will open Saturday at 3 p.m. The Tigers will open the 2020-21 Southeastern Conference season on Tuesday, Dec. 29, against Texas A&M in the Maravich Center. 12/21/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Kent Lowe BATON ROUGE – The scheduled Tuesday night men's basketball game between LSU and VCU at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center will not be played in accordance with SEC and NCAA COVID-19 protocols. LSU fans should follow www.Facebook.com/LSUBasketball and Twitter @LSUBasketball for upcoming schedule announcements. Coach Will Wade will be at TJ Ribs on Acadian Thruway on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. for his regularly scheduled Will Wade Show presented by Hancock Whitney and airing on the LSU Sports Radio Network. 12/18/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Kent Lowe LSU BASKETBALL GAME AT MARAVICH CENTER VERSUS NORTH TEXAS SATURDAY POSTPONED BATON ROUGE – Saturday’s LSU men’s basketball game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against North Texas has been postponed, in accordance with SEC and NCAA COVID-19 protocols. An announcement regarding Tuesday’s Dec. 22 game with VCU will be made at the start of the week. 12/16/2020
LSU Sports Information By: Kent Lowe BATON ROUGE -- Tonight's LSU men's basketball game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center against the University of New Orleans has been postponed, in accordance with SEC and NCAA COVID-19 protocols. As of now, this announcement does not affect Saturday's 11 a.m. home game with North Texas or the Dec. 22 game with VCU at the Maravich Center. 12/14/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! The Tigers return to the court on Monday in a rare early morning tip off after having to cancel their game in Atlanta against South Florida this past Saturday due to COVID reasons, which LSU is still dealing with. Coach Will Wade will not coach this ball game needing to quarantine along with assistant coaches, Tasmin Mitchell and Kevin Nickelberry. Other key game notes, Trendon Watford will not play after twisting his ankle a couple of days ago in practice and Shareef O'Neal will not be available, (No reason given). Below is out 'Da Boot Sports' game breakdown.... 1st HALF: Both teams would open the game with a fast pace, pushing the ball up and down the court quickly, as we would find the score all evened up at 5-5 two minutes in. From this point LSU would go on a 13-2 run, as the Tigers would find themselves in a nice shooting streak, playing tough, aggressive defense, along with out rebounding the Bearcats. 18-7 Tigers at the 14:04 mark. Over the next 9 minutes the game would stay at a steady pace with LSU out playing Sam Houston and slowly pulling away to build a 18 point lead, 41-23. However, the Bearcats would own the final five minutes of the half, digging deep and finding another gear, making a strong run at the Tigers. Once again, LSU would struggle to defend the three point shot, and cool down offensively. Sam Houston would finish 6-18 from behind the arc, helping the Bearcats go on a 14-4 run to end the 1st half, as LSU would hold a 45-37 lead at the break. Jovante Smart would lead the team with 13 first half points, while Darius Days would add 10. Jalen Cook would come off the bench and contribute 9 points respectively. Over all the Tigers would end the half shooting 18-37 from the floor for 49%. Finish 4-15 from three point land, 27%. Go 5-6 from the free throw line, 83%. LSU would own the boards during the first 20 minutes, out rebounding the Bearcats, 25-14. 2nd HALF: Sam Houston would start the 2nd half with Jarren Cook hitting a three pointer to cut the LSU lead to 45-40. The Tigers would then go on a 15-6 run over the next four minutes taking a 60-46 lead. The Bearcats would continue to play with a lot of fight, staying within shouting distance through most of the half, as they were lead by their senior guard Demarkus Lampley and guard Zach Nutall who both finished scoring in double digits. LSU would steadily hold onto a steady 10 point average lead. Every time Sam Houston would try to make a run, cutting the lead to single digits, LSU would respond and increase the advantage back up. Finally over the final three minutes of the contest, the Tigers would turn up their intensity and start to really pull away. A Cameron Thomas dunk at the 1:02 mark would put LSU up 86-66, before he would end all scoring in the game with a basket with :39 ticks left on the clock. With the 88-66 win, the Tigers now sit at 4-1 on the season. Javonte Smart had an outstanding game, leading the team with 25 points, stepping up with the absence of Trendon Watford. Darius Days finished the day with a double-double, 16 points with10 rebounds. Cameron Thomas had a strong 2nd half, finishing with 19 points after only scoring 3 before halftime. Josh LeBlanc was finally able to dress out with the team and saw 14 minutes of action, scoring five points and grabbing eight rebounds. Coach Bill Armstrong did a great job filling in for Will Wade, coaching the team to a nice win with a short handed coaching staff and a couple of key players unavailable. Next up LSU will host UNO on Wednesday night, Dec. 16th, 8pm tipoff on SEC Network... Photos By: LSU/SEC
12/9/2020 By: Terrill J. Weil Da Boot Sports! I was able to take some game action photos during the LSU vs. Louisiana Tech basketball game on December 6th... Wanted to share them with all of you.. Enjoy,,, Photos By: Terrill Weil 12/6/2020 By: Jordan Taylor Da Boot Sports! The LSU Tiger Basketball team (2-1) would welcome an undefeated Louisiana Tech Bulldogs team (3-0) to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a Sunday afternoon instate contest. With COVID guidelines still in play the Tigers would again play in front of a small 25% capacity crowd. LSU would cruise to a 86-55 blow out win, dominating from start to finish. The victory would also make four straight games in which the Tigers have scored over 80+ points. The Bulldogs were simply overmatched tonight as LSU would control the glass, out rebounding the LA Tech and would have a solid shooting night, hitting big shots in key moments. After the victory Head Coach Will Wade said he was impressed with the way his team played zone & press tonight, but wasn't happy with the 15 turnovers that were committed. "Days did a heck of a job shooting outside early to open up lanes for driving to the basket." said Trenton Watford, while Days would mention that his healthy eating habits has him much more fit and is a huge part of his success in playing defense this year committing less fouls. Javonte Smart made the statement afterwards about the return of Charles Manning, saying he brings a lot of energy and we're happy to have him back. Below is our "DA BOOT SPORTS" Game Recap.... 1st HALF: The LA Tech Bulldogs would control the opening tip. Neither team would score until the 18:41 mark as Cameron Thomas would hit 1-2 from the free throw line. Tech would quickly tie things up at 1-1 before Javonte Smart would hit a shot from behind the arc, giving the Tigers an early 4-1 lead. Will Wade would have the Tigers put pressure on the Bulldogs early and often staying in full court press, which has been a team strength so far this season. Tech would play with energy early on, evening things up at 5-5 five minutes into the contest before Darius Days would heat up from three point land hitting from behind the arc on three straight possessions as the Tigers would slowly begin to pull away. At the 9:34 mark, LSU would take their first double digit lead, 20-10 on a jumper by Days who would continue to play a strong first half. From there, the Tigers would out score the Bulldogs 23 to 14 the rest of half. LSU would lead by as much as 21 thanks to great defensive play limiting Tech to only 9 of 29 from the floor, 31% shooting, while the Tigers would shot a healthy 48% from the floor, 12 of 25 as well as heating up from three point land shooting 7 of 12 from behind the arc. The Tigers would take a big 43-24 lead into half time dominating almost every category in the first half. Smart and Days both lead LSU in scoring at the break with 11 points each. 2nd HALF: The second half would start with Cameron Thomas making an easy bucket as LSU would build a 23 point lead, 47-24 only two minutes into the half. The Tigers would then find themselves playing sloppy offensively for a few minutes allowing Tech to cut the lead to 14 with 10:18 to go in the contest before cleaning things up and slowly begin to pull away again. LSU would go on a 14-4 run for over the next five minutes of play, extending their lead to 71-47 as Coach Wade would begin to pull starters and empty the bench giving new faces plenty of playing time experience. The Tigers would lead by as much as 33 points over the final five minutes of the ball game finishing off Louisiana Tech, 86-55... The Tigers had two games this week with similar results as LSU would continue to show that this team could be very special. They play good defense and have explosive scorers. Besides the turnovers, lack of assist, and giving up too many offensive rebounds, you can't really find much to complain about from this impressive win over a tough LA Tech team. We're seeing quality minutes off the bench from names like Cook, O'Neil, and Gaines that is keeping names like Watford, Days, and Smart fresh to be able to close out games late. The Tigers keep showing improvement closing out on shooters from behind the three point line as they held the Bulldogs to 5-29 from three point land. Trendon Watford led the scoring tonight for the Tigers with 18 points. 10 of those coming from the free throw line. He also added 8 rebounds to his night. Cameron Thomas & Javonta Smart added 16 points each. Overall the Tigers had a good night shooting going 54% from the floor as we seen five Tigers score in double digits tonight. They would finish 8-20 from three point land for 40%. The Tigers started out struggling at the free throw line but ended up with a decent night there shooting 26-34 for 77%. Defensively the Tigers played well. 42 rebounds, 7 steals, 4 blocks, and scoring 14 points off turnovers. Another step in the right direction for this young team as they are now 3-1 on the season. Next up, the Tigers travel to Atlanta, Georgia for the 2020 Holiday Hoopsgiving against South Florida on Saturday Dec 12th for a 1:30 pm tip off. The game will be available to watch on ESPN+ or listen on 98.1 FM Photos By: LSU/SEC
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