Lifted by a double-double performance by sophomore forward Jordan Mickey, the LSU men’s basketball team snuck past a scrappy Sam Houston State club 76-67 on Saturday in the PMAC.
The Tigers (7-2), after a nine-day layoff due to final exams, started sluggish but never trailed in the second half despite losing the rebounding battle for the first time all season.
Mickey, who only had four points in the Tigers’ last win against West Virginia, finished with 21 points on 9-of-21 shooting and 15 rebounds.
“I was able get to the basket tonight,” Mickey said. “We were able to execute our offense. I was able to get some lay ups and good shots.”

LSU fended off Sam Houston State’s attempts to cut into the Tigers’ second-half lead. The Tigers led by as many as 10 points, but the Bearkats (5-4) only trailed by four points with 3:11 left in the game before the Tigers took back control.
Junior guard Keith Hornsby provided an offensive spark in the second half finishing with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting and a 3-of-6 clip from three-point range.
“I thought after a nine-day layoff and coming off a big victory that a lot of things were in play that could possibly happen: one, a little bit of a hangover from the win,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “Then sitting there with a nine days of not playing and not being able to really go through really great, whole scale practices… I thought our guys did a good job of finishing strong.”
The Tigers surrendered only seven turnovers nine days after a 24-turnover performance against West Virginia, who relied heavily on a full-court press throughout the game.
“Some of that is that [Sam Houston State] didn’t press us crazily the whole game,” Hornsby said. “That was something we hadn’t faced before going at West Virginia. We’ve been stressing turnovers.”
Sophomore forward Jarell Martin responded to slow start in the first half with 11 of his 14 points in the second half to go with nine rebounds.

Junior guard Josh Gray left the game early in the first half with an ankle injury and did not return. Jones said he would wait for the swelling in Gray’s ankle to go down before making an assessment on his availability. In Gray’s absence, freshman guard Jalyn Patterson saw a season-high in total minutes with 24 minutes.
After a slow start, the Tigers found life late in the first half to take a 34-31 lead over the Bearkats at halftime.
Mickey dominated the Tigers offensive possessions going 7-of-15 with 16 points and 11 rebounds.
Despite shooting only 8-of-23 from the field and 2-of-7 from three-point range, Sam Houston State had its biggest lead at eight with 8:39 left in the first half. The Bearkats had 17 of their total 27 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes led by Michael Holyfield’s six points.
LSU began to attack the basket late in the first half forcing nine team fouls on the Bearkats. The Tigers were 7-of-9 from the free throw line in the first half and 19-of-26 for the game.
The Tigers, who led in total rebounds in every game of the season, were out-rebounded 50-42 for the game. Sam Houston State came into the game tied for sixth in the nation in rebounds per game.