The LSU men’s basketball team has looked dominant at several points this season, but that wasn’t the case early against Savannah State on Saturday.
Turnovers and poor shooting dug LSU in an early hole against a tougher-than-expected opponent. But once they returned to their strengths, the home Tigers flipped a double-digit deficit into their eighth consecutive victory.
LSU (11-2) overcame a 10-point deficit in the first half and remained undefeated at home this season with a 75-59 victory over Savannah State (3-10) on Saturday in the PMAC.
“The first few minutes [against Savannah State], we probably weren’t as engaged and had the edge that we’ve had,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “You’re going to have some of those nights. The plus side for this team is still a big victory by a wide margin of score.”

The eight-game winning streak is the longest of Jones’ three-year tenure, and the Tigers’ 11-2 start is the best since they began 12-1 in the 2008-09 season.
But before their first-half turnaround on Saturday, the home Tigers looked as if they were more focused on their upcoming Southeastern Conference-opener against Missouri on Thursday rather than Savannah State, the nation’s 10th team in steals per game.
LSU sophomore forward Jordan Mickey noticed the lack of concentration.
“I feel that we probably underestimated [Savannah State] coming out early,” said Mickey, who tallied six blocks for the fourth straight game. “They’re a good team, and we made a mistake underestimating them. We just started off slow and didn’t take them seriously at first.”

Behind the efficient scoring of Mickey and fellow sophomore forward Jarell Martin, LSU shook off the rough start and rolled to its seventh double-digit victory of the season.
Martin led all scorers with a career-high tying 26 points, his fifth 20-point outing of the season, and Mickey added 24 points and 14 rebounds for the eighth double-double of his sophomore campaign.
LSU’s All-SEC forward duo of Martin and Mickey shot a combined 75 percent (21-for-28) from the field.
“I think when you look at [Martin and Mickey’s] numbers and not only their numbers but the high percentage that both of them shoot and how effective they were at the basket, it really helps the team,” Jones said. “We’re a better basketball team when we are scoring at the basket.”
Sophomore guard Tim Quarterman was LSU’s other double-digit scorer with 13 points on 50 percent shooting in 34 minutes off the bench.
Despite the victory, things couldn’t have started worse for Jones’ club. LSU went 3-for-15 from the field and committed five turnovers to fall behind in the first eight minutes of action.
On the other side of the court, Savannah State started with a sizzling 60 percent (6-of-10) and scored seven points off turnovers to grab a 16-6 lead with 11:51 remaining in the first half.
But that’s when LSU started finding its touch, particularly from the paint. The home Tigers scored 22 points inside over the final 8:27 of the first half to take a halftime lead.
Quarterman capped off a 10-0 run with a lob to Martin for an emphatic two-handed slam that tied the game 16-16, and Martin put LSU up for good with an old-fashioned three-point play at the 3:40 mark.
LSU’s proficiency inside led to an 11-for-15 clip from the floor to close the first half and a 31-25 lead at the break.
“The message was go out there and play real hard and aggressive,” Martin said. “We weren’t playing as physical down low as we’re capable of playing. With me and Jordan’s size, we’re much bigger than them and stronger. So [Jones] told us to go there and play hard.”

But while LSU eventually found its shooting touch, scrappy Savannah State couldn’t maintain its hot start. The visitors were outscored 25-9 over the last eight minutes before the break and connected on just three of their final 14 attempts.
LSU turned up the heat in the second half, hitting 63.3 percent (19-of-30) of its field goals and recording 14 of a season-high 25 assists.
The home Tigers extended their lead to as many as 18 points before settling for the 16-point win.
“We were getting good looks [in the beginning], but the ball kept rolling out,” Martin said. “But as the game moved on, we started being real patient and moving the ball. We had 25 assists, so that was really big. We shared the ball as a team and put the ball in the hole.”