Michael Bacigalupi
By Hunt Palmer
THE STORY
These last three non-conference games aren’t “did you win’ games.
They’re “how’d you play” games.
LSU played ok Friday night and beat Southeastern, 78-65. The defense wasn’t very good in the first half, and Southeastern cut things to eight with just over eight minutes left to play.
Still the outcome was never in doubt. LSU moved to 10-1, so all is well.
It’s a win, so credit to the Tigers for only committing eight turnovers against a team that thrives on takeaways. I thought Marquel Sutton was excellent and Max Mackinnon was extremely efficient.
That’s the good.
The defense was disconnected in the first half. Southeastern really struggles to score, and they found open shots for much of the first 30 minutes. Through 20 they were shooting 50 percent from the floor with only five turnovers.
There were some ball screen miscommunications, and there were weak close outs.
The Lions went cold in the second half, and some of that was due to LSU’s better defense. The LSU offense was good all night, and that kept the game in hand.
LSU now moves on to a Monday tilt with Prairie View.
THE STATS
Southeastern shot 14-for-28 (50%) in the first half and 10-for-28 (38%) in the second half.
LSU won the free throw battle 19-for-27 to 11-for-15.
LSU led 50-36 at the half.
Marquel Sutton: 7/9 FG, 3/4 3 PT, 19 pts, 9 reb
Dedan Thomas Jr: 4/9 FG, 1/3 3 pt, 5/7 FT, 14 pts, 4 ast
Mike Nwoko: 6/6 FG, 6/7 FT, 18 pts, 6 reb
LSU was 41% from three, SLU was 24%
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