The Tigers tipped off the season Halloween night with a scrimmage against the Tulane Green Wave for charity. All the proceeds from the game went to the American Red Cross hurricane relief fund.
In Will Wade’s first game as the Tigers’ head coach, his team struggled to gain a rhythm on offense and fell to the Green Wave 84-74, shooting 36 percent from the field.
Wade said the team played hard, but didn’t play as smart as they needed in order to secure the victory.
“I was disappointed in our defense,” Wade said. “Every time we would get it close, there were some big time defensive breakdowns.”
LSU forced six turnovers in the first ten minutes despite allowing the Green Wave to shoot 54 percent from the field in that span. For the game, LSU committed 10 turnovers while forcing 15 on Tulane.
The LSU offense had ups and downs throughout the game, but perhaps the biggest surprise was the point in the paint presence. Wade has said on multiple occasions that three point shooting would play a big part in his team’s success.
LSU went 4-for-24 from deep while scoring an impressive 42 points in the paint.
“Obviously we didn’t shoot it well tonight,” Wade said. “We were trying to feed it to [Reath] in the post. He was dominating in the paint.”
Of the 29 points scored in the first half, 18 came from the paint while LSU made just one three pointer on ten attempts.
LSU scored six straight points to open the second half to cut the Green Wave lead to two points.
Sophomore guard Skylar Mays had a strong 18 point second half sparking a 13-5 run late in the half to close the Tulane lead to five.
Four star freshman Tremont Waters was subdued in his first action of the season, being held scoreless and committing a turnover in 13 minutes of play.
“He wasn’t what he can be or is capable of,” Wade said. “I thought he did a good job of driving it in there but he just has to be able to finish those plays.”
Senior forward Duop Reath established himself in the paint for the Tigers finishing with 21 points and 13 boards. Mays added 19 points in the effort.
Reath said the team will have to watch film and see the areas they need to improve in.
“We came out with the right mindset,” Reath said. “We just have to play a little bit smarter.”
LSU will have ten days to regroup and prepare for the season opener against Alcorn State at the Maravich Center November 10.
