Tigers cruise by UNO, move to 2-0

By Hunt Palmer

THE STORY

LSU’s size and strength overwhelmed UNO Monday night.

The Tigers smothered their visitors from the Southland Conference defensively, owned the backboards by 20 and got easy look after easy look at the rim. The result was a 93-58 win to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Mike Nwoko, the biggest and strongest player on LSU’s roster, posted a career-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting. He was set up with some crafty lobs by DJ Thomas early, and late he just asserted himself at the rim in several one-on-one situations that the Privateers didn’t have an answer for.

LSU threw the clamps on UNO in the second half. The Privateers couldn’t find any room to operate offensively and made just 9-of-34 shots after intermission. That allowed a 12-point LSU halftime lead to swell to as much as 35 which ended up being the final margin.

Marquel Sutton showed the versatile game that made him the Summit League MVP last season. He scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. He buried 4-of-8 from three-point range.

UNO made one run in the game. The Tigers led by 10 just three minutes into the game and held a double-digit lead with just over 10 minutes to play in the first half. The Privateers strung some stops together and cut the lead to five with 3:17 left in the half, but LSU finished the first half on a 9-2 run punctuated by a Robert Miller slam at the buzzer to make it 44-32 at the break.

The Tigers return to action Thursday against Florida International.

THE STATS

LSU: 31/71 FG (44%), 10/27 3PT (37%)

UNO: 20/67 FG (30%)

Mike Nwoko: 9/13 FG, 0/1 3PT, 4/5 FT, 22 pts, 5 reb

Marquel Sutton: 4/11 FG, 4/8 3PT, 15 pts, 15 reb

DJ Thomas: 8 ast, 1 TO

Jalen Reece: 4 ast, 0 TO

LSU assisted on 21 of 31 field goals.

LSU only committed 7 turnovers.

LSU outrebounded the Privateers 56-36

LSU won points in the paint 42-28

Jalen Reed had 15 points and 7 rebounds.

THE QUOTES

Mike Nwoko on the chemistry between him and DJ Thomas…

“It started with day one. Coming into the gym and just having regular conversations showed me I like this guy. The point guard/big man connection has to be important. We worked on it, obviously, we got some things to still work on because we’re not perfect, but big shout out to him. He’s an elite point guard and an elite player.”

Marquel Sutton on not overlooking an opponent like UNO…

“We shouldn’t underestimate any team that comes in here. We can’t take anybody lightly; it’s basketball, and anything can happen. Throughout the week, we emphasized stopping their best players and their role players, and I feel like we did that tonight.”

Matt McMahon on Marquel Sutton’s growth…

“Marquel played at the four and the five last year at Omaha. He was the Summit League Player of the Year and took his team to the NCAA Tournament. We brought him here with the idea of moving him to the wing to play the three. He lives in the gym. He only knows one speed on the floor. He plays hard. I don’t know that I’ve seen a +45 (plus/minus). The amount of time he has spent, we’re talking tens of thousands of threes he’s made since walking on campus. It’s a testament to his work, but we’ve also challenged him. We don’t want him to lose what he’s really good at, which is around that bucket. He got 15 rebounds tonight. He was just relentless in his effort.”