The LSU men’s basketball team defeated Morehouse College 71-47 in its first and only exhibition game of the 2014-15 season in preparation for its season opener against Gardner-Webb on Nov. 15.
The Tigers started off slow, going into the first official timeout with only a 6-2 lead. Junior guard Josh Gray got the scoring going early, scoring four of the Tigers’ first six point while going 2-3 from the field.
The Tigers continued to struggle, holding on to a 16-10 lead with 11:16 remaining in the half. But after an official timeout, the Tigers went on a 22-4 run to take a 39-14 lead with 03:27 remaining in the half.
LSU coach Johnny Jones said while the team struggled early on, he was encouraged to see them work through its troubles at the beginning of the half.
“[The team] played extremely hard,” Jones said. “They tried to play through the mistakes there early and tried to feel each other out.”
The run spanned a total of 6:21 and was sparked by junior guard Keith Hornsby, who scored seven points during that stretch.
Hornsby, who played his first career game as a Tiger after transferring from UNC-Asheville a year ago, finished with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
Hornsby said he was a little nervous to play his first game in the Pete Maravich Center, but he was excited to finally get out on the court.
“It was amazing,” Hornsby said. “I know a lot of people came to the game who were anxious to see me play. For it to finally be here it was amazing.”
The Tigers finished the first half shooting 46.7 percent from the field, while holding Morehouse to 22.2 percent to take a 40-23 halftime lead. Morehouse struggled to hold on to the ball for much of the half, turning the ball over 16 times while getting little production from its bench, which scored four points in the first.
Morehouse College coach Grady Brewer said his team left a lot of opportunities out on the floor, but is happy with the way his team played Friday.
“For our first game and live scrimmage against a very good basketball team, we played well,” Brewer said. “It was a learning experience for our team.”
LSU played suffocating defense led by the low-post presence of sophomore Jordan Mickey. Mickey had five blocks in the first half to go along with his seven points and seven rebounds in the first. Freshman center Elbert Robinson III contributed in the post as well, adding three blocks of his own for a total of ten blocks by the Tigers in the half.
“Defensively, I think we can be really good because of size and strength and the quickness that we have out there on the floor,” Jones said.
The Tigers came out in the second half picking up right where they left off, outscoring Morehouse 31-24 to finish the game. LSU’s second half dominance was led in part by sophomore forward Jarell Martin’s 14 second half points.
Martin finished the game with 22 points and 7 rebounds, ending as the game’s leading scorer. Martin said he wanted to be a leader out on the court, which gave him the confidence he needed for his second half outburst.
“I was just being active out there on the floor,” Martin said. “My teammates were finding me, being confident in my shot, getting to the rim and concentrating on free throws and knocking those down.”
The Tigers finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field on 64 attempts, forcing 18 turnovers and 13 blocks. Morehouse continued to struggle making shots in the second half, finishing 23 percent from the field.
The Tigers played without freshman forward Aaron Epps, who did not dress for the exhibition due to stomach issues.
Jones said the move was a precautionary one and he expects Epps to still play a pivotal role on the Tigers’ squad even with his absence Friday.
“He had some issues with his stomach yesterday, and we just decided to sit him today,” Jones said.
The lone struggle for the Tigers came on the boards. LSU was outrebounded 66 to 46, but Jones said the exhibition game is a good learning experience for the Tigers heading into their regular season opener Nov. 15.
“We’re glad it was an exhibition game,” Jones said. “This [game] will give us an opportunity to go back as a staff and look at the tape, break it down, give our team an opportunity to look at it because there’s some areas that we have to clean up before we start the regular season next Saturday.”