Something special happened at the 17:49 mark in the first half of the LSU men’s basketball game on Thursday night.
Freshman guard Andre Stringer stripped the ball from Tennessee-Martin (2-1) freshman guard Chris Richardson with LSU (2-1) trailing, 5-0. Stringer dove after the ball as it fluttered to the sideline, deflecting it off Richardson before it went out of bounds.
Stringer then pounded his chest – his heart – and from that point on LSU’s intensity never subsided in a 79-56 win, just two days after falling to Nicholls State at home.
“I sensed that this whole team was going to play better, because they were embarrassed with how they played the other day,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson.
Johnson said he was upset the Tigers had only 16 offensive rebounds through two games, 18 less than their opponents.
LSU answered Thursday night with 22 offensive rebounds. The Tigers dominated the Skyhawks on the glass, outrebounding UT-Martin, 52-32.
Junior forward Malcolm White, who had only six rebounds in two previous games, recorded his first career double-double with 15 rebounds and 12 points.
Junior forward Storm Warren finished with his first double-double of the season and 10th of his career, scoring 12 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
“Last game we weren’t aggressive crashing the boards,” White said. “Coach Johnson kept telling us we need to be more aggressive on the glass.”
The Tigers went on a 14-2 run to end the half and took a 36-19 lead at halftime. LSU began the second half with a 13-2 run, expanding its lead to 49-21.
The Skyhawks couldn’t battle back from the deficit.
All five starters finished with double figures for the first time since Feb. 21 of 2009 against Auburn.
Stringer went 3-for-12 from the floor and 1-for-7 from 3-point range. Despite the low shooting percentage, he led the Tigers with 15 points after shooting 8-of-9 from the free throw line.
“He’s picking and choosing when he needs to be aggressive, and I told him I want him to be aggressive all the time,” Johnson said.
Stringer started his first game as a Tiger as junior point guard Chris Bass came off the bench. Bass finished with four points and five assists with no turnovers.
“Chris didn’t waiver one iota, he didn’t care if he was starting, and Chris played well,” Johnson said.
Johnson said the Tigers still have to work on holding onto the ball after committing 18 more turnovers than their opponents through two games.
The Tigers had only five turnovers to the Skyhawks’ nine at halftime. However, UT-Martin’s full-court press late in the game contributed to 10 LSU turnovers in the second half, as LSU finished with 15 turnovers to UT-Martin’s 14.
“Turnovers we still have a lot to clean up,” Johnson said. “We’ve got a lot of careless mistakes going on there.”
The Tigers travel to Tupelo, Miss., to play No. 19 Memphis (5-0) on Sunday. Memphis is coming off a 94-79 win against Northwestern State, which LSU also beat, 87-78, earlier this season.
Johnson said he doesn’t want to treat Memphis different than any other team.
“Memphis is a very talented basketball team, extremely quick,” he said. “Tupelo is not a neutral site, because they travel well and have a great fan support, so it’ll be like a road game.”