LSU coach Johnny Jones was adamant during the week that his team’s matchup with a veteran UAB club rested on the glass.
The stats backed the second-year coach up. The Blazers entered the contest leading the NCAA in rebounding, while Jones’ Tigers sat in seventh. UAB’s lineup boasted two forwards and a center who all averaged seven or more rebounds on the young season.
But at the end of the afternoon, Jones saw the stat sheet in front of him. The numbers didn’t lie — LSU was soundly out-rebounded 48-39 but steamrolled the Blazers 86-63.
Instead of resting solely on the boards, the Tiger defense shone through, limiting the Blazers (9-3) to just 30 percent shooting for the game and 18 percent in the second half.
“Great defense,” said junior forward Johnny O’Bryant III. “We contested shots without fouling when they got to the lane, we got a hand up on jumpers. Just all around great defense.”
O’Bryant led the Tigers (8-2) with 17 points, including the first 11 of the second half to hold LSU over during a scoring lull that saw the Tiger lead whittled down to ten.
Freshman guard Tim Quarterman stepped in for Anthony Hickey after the junior picked up his second foul with 14:51 remaining in the first half as the Tigers held a 17-10 advantage.
Quarterman, who relinquished his starting role to the veteran Hickey after the third game of the season, chipped in nine assists with zero turnovers to lead the offense seamlessly as LSU brought a 49-33 lead into the locker room.
“Coach told me before the game that he would need me tonight on [UAB guard Chad] Frazier,” Quarterman said. “They had a good team chemistry, so being on the same page with my teammates was key.”
Fellow freshman Jarell Martin put together a game Jones called one of the Baton Rouge native’s most complete since stepping on campus.
Martin buried two 3-pointers, scoring 12 points on 5-of-13 shooting. He added one assist, one block and two rebounds and said he felt no ill effects of the ankle sprain that’s plagued him since the Tigers’ season-opening loss to UMass.
“I get to make my moves and I’m feeling more confident,” Martin said. “I was getting up, dunking the ball [in warm-ups], working on moves. I felt really loose, so I came out with the mindset that I’m going to do everything today.”
With the Tiger lead was down to ten with under ten minutes to play, freshman forward Jordan Mickey grabbed a crucial offensive rebound off a missed 3-pointer for an easy putback.
On the ensuing Blazer possession, LSU sophomore guard Malik Morgan snared a defensive rebound to start the break, feeding O’Bryant for an easy layup to push the Tiger lead back to 14.
Quarterman scored the next five Tiger points to give the Tigers a 16-point lead it would never relinquish.
“I thought our guys, from start to finish, played one of our better and more complete games than we’ve played this year,” Jones said. “Our guys did an excellent job finishing … and played very confident tonight on both ends of the floor.