The LSU men’s basketball team had its second taste of sustained success Wednesday night at South Carolina. Following its 69-49 thumping of Ole Miss on Saturday, LSU entered the game with another chance at its second winning streak of the season. This time the Tigers did not disappoint. LSU freshman forward Anthony Randolph and junior center Chris Johnson each posted their second consecutive double-doubles in the Tigers’ 62-55 win against the Gamecocks. Randolph led LSU with 20 points and added 10 rebounds while Johnson scored 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. LSU interim coach Butch Pierre complimented his team for overcoming a slow start. “We regrouped down the stretch and made some stops, then we started making the shots and got the game going our way,” Pierre said in his postgame interview on the LSU Sports Radio Network. The Tigers’ defense was a key factor in the win, holding the Gamecocks to 29 second-half points and outrebounding them 44-28. LSU also held South Carolina guard Devan Downey to six points although the sophomore had been averaging 19.7 points per game. “We’ve never played a zone all year,” Pierre said. “But we went into a zone down there and stopped them about four or five straight possessions, and that was the game.” Free-throw success preserved the late-game lead. The Tigers were a perfect 14-of-14 from the free-throw line.
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