It wasn’t always pretty and it had its share of dramatic tension, but the Johnny Jones era at LSU is off to a promising start.
The former LSU point guard and assistant coach watched as his team used a late first half run to put away the young UC Santa Barbara Gauchos in a 77-63 win Friday night in the PMAC.
Sophomore forward Johnny O’Bryant III dominated the opening minutes, bullying his way over the undersized Gaucho post players. He poured in 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds before hobbling off the court with a strained calf.
“The way that he played away from the basket and as explosive as he was, I thought he was on a tear,” Jones said, “[He] jumped up [and was] making plays, and he’s very capable of knocking down shots.”
O’Bryant did not return to action after the injury, and missed practice Sunday. He is listed as day-to-day.
Down a leader on and off the court, the perimeter play stepped up for the Tigers (1-0). Sophomore point guard Anthony Hickey, senior transfer Charles Carmouche and freshman Malik Morgan combined for 32 points and five treys.
Hickey, who was suspended for last Monday’s exhibition win against Arkansas-Monticello, chipped in six assists and seven steals while terrorizing the Gaucho wings all night.
“If one person goes down, everyone else has to step up,” Hickey said. “We struggled a little bit when [O’Bryant] went down on the offensive and defensive rebounds, but we all came together as a team.”
Trailing by as much as seven in the first half, LSU used an 11-2 run over the last four minutes of the first half, punctuated by a Morgan tip-in over two defenders, to bring a 41-32 lead into the break.
The lead would stretch to as many as 21 in the second half as the Tigers found their stroke from the outside and converted 23 Gaucho turnovers into fast break buckets.
“I think we caught on to how [UCSB] was running their offense,” Carmouche said. “We started jumping the passing lanes and running the break. We are pretty good when we are running the break.”
Jones praised his players’ effort in his first game leading his alma mater and said the entire experience evoked memories of days past.
“[I was] just really filled with emotions from playing days and just going full-circle to remember my mom and dad being at games here as a freshman,” Jones said. “I’m so glad we were able to get it behind us.”
