TIGERS WIN SEC OPENER

Photo By: Terrill J. Weil

1/4/2020
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!


       KNOXVILLE: The Tigers started SEC play today on the road in Knoxville,  playing with toughness and confidence, coming away with a 78-64 victory over the Volunteers.  With the win, LSU improves to 9-4 overall & 1-0 in the SEC,  as they begin the defense of their SEC Championship.
      LSU battle and played with poise in the first 20 minutes,  as Tennessee lead for most of the first half thanks to their three-point shooting, as they would make nine from the arc.  LSU would battle back, scoring the last seven points of the first half including a Javonte Smart three with 14 seconds left, to put  LSU up 38-37  at halftime.  
      The Volunteers scored the first basket of the second half, but LSU quickly regained the lead and control, staying in front the rest of the ball game.  The Tigers would lead by as much as 16, as they shot 57% from the floor, scoring 32 points in the paint. The Tigers continue to show improvement in the turnover department, as they only committed eight for the ball game and forced the Vols into 14, scoring 19 points off of those turnovers. 
      Freshman guard Santiago Vescovi, playing in his first game for the Volunteers, finished with 18 points and six rebounds. Yves Pons also added 18 points,  three rebounds, and three blocked shots.  Freshman guard Josiah-Jordan James finished with 15 points. The Volunteers finished 13 of 26 from the three-point arc. Tennessee now sits at 8-5, 0-1 in the SEC. 
      "When you win a couple, you get that confidence," said LSU's Skylar Mays, who scored 17 points. "We feel like we're really good on the road. That's kind of how it goes. When you play with confidence, things tend to go right for you.''
       Jevonte Smart lead the Tigers in scoring with 21 points, including five three-pointers, and Trendon Watford added 15 points. 
      "I thought it was obviously a good win for us." Will Wade stated after the game. "We withstood Tennessee in the first half. I thought we took their best punch for them to shoot it so well from the three. I'm not going to try to pronounce 25's name, but he's going to be a very, very good player. Obviously, he's a tremendous shooter. As he adjusts to the speed and pace of the game, he will continue to get better. I thought our guards did a great job. I thought Javonte (Smart) played really well. Javonte must like playing Tennessee because his two best games were against Tennessee last year and obviously here today. We made some big plays and were able to withstand the run, and things kind of evened out a little bit in the second half and we were able to pull away. (It was) a good road win for us and a good way to get conference season started." 
      Next up for LSU is a home matchup with the Arkansas Razorbacks on Wednesday night in the PMAC, at 8pm..  Please get your tickets and come out to cheer on our Tigers!
      


1-4-20
By: Terrill J. Weil
Da Boot Sports!