December 29, 2025: during NCAA Basketball action between the Southern Miss Golden Eagles and the LSU Tigers at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, LA. Michael Bacigalupi
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
Southern Miss tried man-to-man. They tried zone.
None of it affected Dedan Thomas Jr.
The junior point guard dropped 22 points and dished out 12 assists for his third double-double of the season as LSU smashed Southern Miss 90-62 to finish non-conference play 12-1.
Southern Miss hung around through the middle stages of the game but never made a run at LSU. The Tigers led by double digits for all but 18 seconds of the final 7:53 in the first half. They led by 11 at the break, and it never got closer.
An 8-0 Tiger run swelled the advantage to 23 with 6:41 left in the game.
Thomas was in complete control. Never out of rhythm or rushed, he continued to put the ball on the floor and penetrate the Golden Eagle defense, whatever its design was. He found teammates at the rim and deftly floated in shot after shot from around the paint.
He set a season high with those 12 assists and only turned the ball over twice in 35 minutes.
Southern Miss played leading scorer Tylik Weeks with two fouls early in the first half. He got a third. Then he remained on the floor and picked up a fourth personal with 3:02 to play in the first half. He only played 11 minutes in the second half and didn’t make a field goal.
LSU leaned on its strengths Monday night. Thomas and Michael Nwoko handled the scoring, equaling each other’s 22-point effort. Max Mackinnon made some early threes, three of his first four to be exact. The two-point shooting was fantastic, and the ball security was great.
The surprise was the defense. LSU blocked 11 shots and really bothered a smaller Southern Miss lineup at the rim.
The win wrapped up a very nice pre-conference slate for the Tigers who took care of business against overmatched teams and won one of the two big matchups away from the PMAC.
Conference play begins Saturday for the Tigers as they head to College Station to tangle with Texas A&M.
THE STATS
Dedan Thomas Jr: 8/11 FG, 2/2 3 pt, 4/4 FT, 22 pts, 12 ast, 2 TO
Michael Nwoko: 10/13 FG, 2/4 FT, 22 pts, 6 reb, 5 blk
Pablo Tamba: 3/3 FG, 1/1 3 pt, 9 pts, 15 reb
LSU won paint points 42-38
LSU outshot Southern Miss 52% to 31%
LSU only committed 6 turnovers.
Southern Miss was 3/15 from 3 pt.
LSU’s bench did not score in the first half.
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