Five Tigers scored in double-digits to propel LSU to an 80-68 victory against Mississippi State in the PMAC on Saturday afternoon.
Senior guard Charles Carmouche made five of eight 3-pointers and led LSU (15-8, 6-6 in Southeastern Conference play) with 21 points, and senior center Andrew Del Piero set a new career-high with 13. Sophomore guard Anthony Hickey and junior guard Andre Stringer added 10 apiece.
“[Carmouche] was able to get into a rhythm in terms of shooting the ball,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “He’s been known to be a shooter, and that’s kind of been the thing that people would pin on him: tremendous ability to stretch the defense because he’s great from around the 3-point line.”
Sophomore forward Johnny O’Bryant III chipped in 10 points of his own, and his 11 rebounds were good for his eleventh double-double of the season and his eighth in the last nine games. O’Bryant also dished out a career-high eight assists, two short of what would have been the first triple-double of his career.
The Tigers traded blows with Mississippi State (7-17, 2-10 SEC) early on in the contest, with the score knotted at 25 at the 6:22 mark in the first half. But LSU closed out the first period on a 16-3 run to lead 41-28, and the margin ballooned to 20 points about nine minutes into the second half.
Along with the well-distributed scoring, the Tigers shot 54.5 percent from the floor. LSU totaled 24 assists and grabbed 12 more rebounds than the Bulldogs.
After starting off conference play with four losses, the Tigers have won six of their last eight games to bring their SEC winning percentage to .500 for the first time all season.
“I think it’s just a part of growth,” Jones said. “I thought we played some really tight games early on and played extremely hard. [We] weren’t able to finish in some of them. The guys have done a tremendous job of continuing to grow. …I think the guys have improved in practice and have been able to transfer their practice to the games.”
LSU will play its third game in six days when it takes on Tennessee at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Knoxville, Tenn.
