LSU TOPS UNO, 90-54

Photo By: Terrill J. Weil

12/3/2019
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


      BATON ROUGE: LSU used a strong 2nd half to race past New Orleans for a 90-54 win. The victory  runs LSU winning streak at home against non-conference opponents to 14 straight. Emmitt Williams lead the Tigers in scoring as he finished with 18 points & 10 rebounds, for his 2nd double-double of the season. 
      The Tigers (6-2), started slow as they missed their first three shots of the game. They continued to struggle for most of the first half, as they committed six turnovers and were a miserable, 1 of 11 from the arc. A confident Privateers team (3-5), played a solid first half. On offense they had great ball movement as they took and made nice shots. Defensively they took advantage of LSU's outside shooting woes. UNO lead the Tigers 26-20 at the 5:51 mark for their largest lead of the game. Skylar Mays hit a pair of free throws, Charles Manning banked a shot in off the glass, followed by Trendon Watford sinking one of two charity shots to pull within one, 26-25. After a Privateer basket, Watford hit a three to tie the game at 28-28 with 3:54 to go. LSU went on a 18-4 run to finish off the first half, taking a 38-30 lead into the locker room. 
      LSU flexed their muscles from there, as they continue to be a strong second half team. They tightened up their entire game, as they eventually went on a 16-5 run,  then dominated late as they scored 20 straight points to lead 83-48. During that run, Charles Manning added a beautiful one-handed alley-oop jam from a nicely set up Skylar Mays pass. The Privateers continued to play tough, but they were no match for LSU's 2nd half surge.  They allowed LSU to get into a pace that they were comfortable with. The Tigers were much cleaner with the basketball, as they continue to show improvement with committing turnovers. They only had ten for the ball game. The Tigers also picked up the defensive pressure, smothering the Privateers down the stretch. LSU actually held a 40 point lead when Courtese Cooper scored on a dunk with 2:11 to play.  Charles Manning Jr. finished with 13 points, Darius Days & DeVonte Smart had 12 points each, and Aundre Hyatt made his first 3 point shot of his LSU career.  Bryson Robinson lead UNO in scoring with 18 points. 
      The (6-2) Tigers will host Northwestern State on Sunday. Lets fill the PMAC and cheer these Tigers onto another victory.