If the LSU men’s basketball team’s 73-57 win Tuesday against Houston proved anything, it is that the Tigers showed they can win without production from their top scorers.
Sophomore guard Aaron Dotson and freshman guard Andre Stringer — who entered the game averaging 28.4 combined points between themselves — had cold shooting nights, especially in the first half.
The Tigers (5-2) entered the locker room at halftime leading the Cougars (4-3) by 10, despite getting only four combined points from Dotson and Stringer.
“This is a team — we’ve said it from day one,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “We really had a feeling coming into this year that we had a chance to be solid and get scoring from a lot of guys a lot of different times.”
Stringer and Dotson both struggled to find the bottom of the net in the first half, shooting a combined 2-of-7.
It didn’t matter, as junior forward Storm Warren and freshman guard Ralston Turner picked up the scoring slack for LSU.
“That’s what we work for. That’s what we want to do,” Warren said. “Any given night we can have an off night, but that’s what that team is for. Everybody has to be ready to step up.”
Warren and Turner were the major contributors to LSU’s 38-28 halftime lead, combining for 16 points in the first half.
Turner sparked a 7-0 run midway through the first half by nailing his first 3-pointer of the contest, putting LSU ahead, 23-20.
But it was Warren who supplied the team with an energy boost, capping back-to-back drives with emphatic dunks — one coming off an inbound pass and one coming on a put-back.
Warren bellowed loudly after the put-back — maybe shedding the frustration that has come with struggling early this season.
“Just coming out of the slump I was in, the main thing was I was thinking too much,” Warren said. “I was worried about certain things besides worrying about the next possession.”
Warren maintained the team on the defensive end as well, tallying four blocks on the night. Two of Warren’s blocks were sent with force into the stands.
The effort gave Warren his second double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Turner kept the team afloat offensively, scoring a game-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting. He also doled out a team-leading five assists.
“He stretches you because he can shoot it so deep,” Johnson said. “But he has a nice in-between game. He can put it on the floor and he can make guys better. He has a chance to be special.”
The Tigers have scored at least 73 points in all five of their wins this season.
The efforts weren’t all concentrated on the offensive end for the Tigers, though.
While Dotson struggled on the offensive end, he kept senior Adam Brown — Houston’s leading scorer — in check for the majority of the game.
Dotson held Brown to seven points in the first 34 minutes before Brown sank back-to-back 3-pointers when the Tigers had the game well in hand.
Stringer kept his streak of double-digit scoring games alive by sinking nine free-throws in the second half. Stringer has now scored in double figures in every game of his college career.
The Tigers have 11 days off before their next game. Johnson said the team will use the time to focus on school and recharge, but he had a message for the team to be wary of its 5-2 record.
“We can’t be caught up in fool’s gold. We don’t defend like we need to, we don’t rebound like we need to and we don’t take care it like we need to,” Johnson said. “By no means are we a finished product right now.”
 
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Contact Luke Johnson at [email protected]