Junior guard Marcus Thornton led the Tigers (6-4) to their 67th consecutive home win against Louisiana teams with their 82-58 victory against the Northwestern State Demons (4-7).
Thornton scored the game’s first five points, and the Tigers never lost the lead. But the contest remained contentious.
Northwestern State attempted to rally in the second half and managed to narrow the gap by eight points within the first seven minutes.
Thornton paced LSU for the second game in a row with 22 points, including 11 straight points in the middle of the second half. Thornton’s outburst ended with LSU ahead by 19 points, pulling the Tigers out of the Demons’ reach.
Three times Thornton capitalized on three-pointers during his hot streak and shot 4-for-10 from long range in the game. Thornton also tied for the team lead with three steals and added five boards.
“I’m getting in a comfort zone,” Thornton said. “I’m just trying to do whatever the team needs me to do.”
Demon sophomore guard Michael McConathy was ejected from the game with 9:57 remaining after he pushed LSU freshman guard Bo Spencer down from behind.
“I just thought about how T.J. Ford just injured his neck,” Spencer said. “I thought it was a hard foul, but I don’t think he was trying to hurt me. I hope he wasn’t trying to hurt me.”
Ford, a guard for the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, injured his neck on a similar play Tuesday night after being hit by former Florida Gator Al Horford. Ford will likely return to play.
Despite the victory, LSU coach John Brady indicated practice will be rough tomorrow in response to the performance of the team.
“We’re doing rebounding drills for the first hour and a half of practice tomorrow – until somebody draws blood,” Brady said. “I was disgusted with the way we rebounded tonight.”
The Demons out-rebounded the Tigers with 48 total and 20 offensive boards compared to LSU’s 34 total and 4 offensive rebounds.
“When the [opponent’s shot] is missed, and we don’t secure the rebound, that defensive possession is wasted,” Brady said.
Despite the poor rebounding effort, the Tigers managed to rack up 12 steals and seven blocks to Northwestern State’s six steals and four blocks.
The Tigers were ranked No. 3 in the country with nine blocked shots per game going into the matchup.
This was the Tigers second game in December, and will now face a tough schedule leading up to their Southeastern Conference opener Jan. 9 at home against Mississippi State (5-5)
The upcoming games include road games at Wichita State (5-4), the team that handed the Tigers their first loss a year ago, and at No. 14 Texas A&M (8-1)
“It’s on now,” Brady said. “That’s what I’m most looking forward to.”