After much anticipation, the revamped LSU men’s basketball team began its 2014-15 season with a convincing second half performance to defeat Gardner-Webb 93-82.
After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Tigers go into the half with a one point deficit, the Tigers came out in the second half energized. Junior guard Keith Hornsby scored nine points in the first five minutes of the second half to help lead a run that put the Tigers up 58-49 with 15:18 remaining in the half.
“Offensively we got clicking, making playsand had some easy scoring opportunities on that side of the floor,” said LSU men’s basketball coach Johnny Jones. “We shot the ball better there in the second half and then we were able to win the war on the boards, which was something we wanted to improve on.”
Hornsby sparked a Tigers squad that came out in the second half with added energy. The Tigers jumped out to a 66-54 lead near the halfway mark of the second half and never looked back.
Hornsby said he got excited when sparking the Tigers early in the second half, but made sure to keep his composure moving forward.
“I had to keep my composure because I helped extend the lead. You can get out of sync when you do that,” Hornsby said. “I was excited, but I made sure I moved on right after I scored those points.”
Sophomore forwards Jarell Martin and Jordan Mickey took over where Hornsby started, dominating the boards and mid-range to catapult the Tigers into a comfortable 80-64 lead with 4:24 remaining.
Martin and Mickey both finished with a team-high 21 points. Martin added 11 rebounds to his performance, giving him a double-double on the afternoon.
LSU buckled down on defense in the second half holding the Runnin’ Bulldogs to just over 40 percent shooting in the half compared to their 52.8 percent field goal percentage in the first half.
Martin said the Tigers had to come out more aggressive on defense in the second half to shut down Gardner-Webb’s offensive game plan.
“We had to play real physical down low with their bigs,” Martin said. “They came out setting the tone down low so we definitely had to work on that to make sure they weren’t getting any touches and scoring easily down low.”
The Tigers had to fight off a late Runnin’ Bulldogs run that cut the lead to as little as five points with under two minutes remaining, but LSU weathered the storm and finished off Gardner-Webb for its first win of the regular season.
Hornsby said going into the second half the team hyped each other up in the locker room to ensure a better performance.
“Right when we came into the locker room, me, Jarell, Jordan, Josh [Gray], and other guys, Tim [Quarterman] were firing each other up,” Hornsby said. “We knew they were leading at the half, and we knew that we had to come out with a different type of energy.”
It was a back-and-forth first half for the Tigers. On the opening tip off, the Runnin’ Bulldogs snagged what looked like a won jump ball by Martin and took it to the basket for a quick 2-0 lead.
The Tigers bounced back from the quick deficit to take a 13-6 lead into the first official timeout. The lead was sparked by Mickey’s hot start, scoring seven points on 3-3 shooting while also netting an and one opportunity.
Gardner-Webb began to slowly inch back into the game after falling behind early. Juniors Jerome Hill and Tyrell Nelson dominated the paint, scoring nine and eight points respectively to cut the Tigers’ lead to four with 07:49 remaining in the half.
The Tigers were outscored in the paint 32-20 in the half enabling the Runnin’ Bulldogs to eventually take the lead behind its two big men in Hill and Nelson. The two big men ended the half as the game’s leading scorers.
“They did an excellent job of getting the ball inside and being patient with it,” Jones said. “They took it right to Jordan [Mickey] inside and made some easy plays down there.”
Hill finished the half as the leading scorer with 15 points, while his counterpart Hill fell right behind him tallying 14 points.
The Tigers now move forward to their next out of conference opponent in Texas Tech, who they host Tuesday in the PMAC with tip off set for 8:30 p.m.
Jones said the Tigers’ interior defense and aggressiveness is going to be a point of emphasis moving forward in the regular season.
“When you play passive like that you’re trying not to foul, and when you put yourself in a position to do that then teams have a chance to take advantage of you because there’s no resistance,” Jones said. “I think we just have to be tougher down there and get in there and make plays.”

Gallery • 1 Photos

Javier Fernández

LSU sophomore forward Jarell Martin (1) makes a layup during the second half of Tigers' 93-82 victory over Gardner-Webb on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2014 in the PMAC