LSU used a strong start to the second half for a second straight game and that paid off to the tune of a second straight important non-conference victory as the Tigers knocking off undefeated and nationally-ranked Furman, 75-57, Friday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU is now 9-3 on the season while the No. 24 Paladins fall to 12-1. The win marked the 14th consecutive win for the Tigers at the Pete Maravich Center, tied for the sixth longest in building history, and the win stopped Furman’s eight-game true road court winning streak (five this season). Furman was the first team in the nation to win 12 games this year.
It was LSU’s second win over a ranked team in Will Wade’s two-years at LSU, to go with a road win last year at Texas A&M.
LSU was led by Tremont Waters who in his second straight game off of the bench contributed in all phases with a 3×5 game of 20 points, five rebounds and seven assists. Skylar Mays had 16 points, three assists and four steals. The big men inside, Kavell Bigby-Williams and Naz Reid combined for 19 points and 20 rebounds with KBW getting a 10-10 double and Reid with nine points and 10 boards.
The Paladins, winners this year over two Final Four teams from a season ago, was paced by Andrew Brown with 15 points, while Jordan Lyons had 13 and Alex Hunter 12. LSU held Furman to 37.5 percent (21-56) from the field and just 9-of-31 from the arc (29%).
The Tigers shot consistently with 54.2 percent in the first half (13-of-24) and 56.3 percent in the second half (18-32) to finish at 31-of-56 (55.4%). LSU hit just 4-of-13 from the arc (30.8%). But it was the 50 points in the paint to just 22 for Furman that wore the Paladins down and a 16-7 second chance points clip in a game LSU would lead for almost 36 minutes before an excited crowd.
More importantly, the Tigers after turning the ball over 14 times in the first 20 minutes and allowing Furman to get a 13-2 advantage in points off turnovers, fumbled it away just three times in the second half. That led to a 13-5 advantage for LSU in points off turnovers.
Up just four at the break, 31-27, just like last Saturday when the Tigers were up one at the break against Saint Mary’s, LSU came out on a 12-3 run in the first 4:04 of the final stanza that pushed the LSU lead to 13 at 43-30.
Reid had an opening layup and then Mays hit a trey to push it to 36-27. Brown had a trey for Furman but Bigby-Williams had a dunk, Reid a free throw and Bigby-Williams a layup to complete the run.
Furman whittled the game down to five, 49-44, on another Brown trey with still 12:25 to go and Coach Wade quickly called time out to settle things down. The Tigers built a 13-point advantage, 61-48, with 7:30 to go. Furman could only cut the margin to nine a couple of times as LSU’s power inside proved too much and the lead reached the final margin of 18 with 1:12 to go.
The Tigers will now take a few days of Christmas break before returning to the Maravich Center to play its final non-conference game against ULM at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 28. LSU opens conference play on Tuesday, Jan. 8 at home against Alabama.
(Press Release Provided by LSU Athletics)
