The LSU basketball team (19-9, 11-6 Southeastern Conference) made its 23rd appearance in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Tigers finished third in the SEC this season and beat Ole Miss and Arkansas in the SEC Tournament to advance to the championship game.
LSU fell by one point to Alabama and earned a No. 8 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East region, setting the team for a first round matchup against No. 9 St. Bonaventure at Indiana University’s Assembly Hall in Bloomington, Indiana.
The Tigers’ last tournament appearance saw them defeat Yale and Maryland to reach the Sweet 16 as a No. 3 seed in 2019 before falling to No. 2 Michigan State. Head Coach Will Wade missed the entire postseason after the university suspended him ahead of the team’s regular season finale.
Wade was reinstated the following month, and after last year’s tournament was canceled due to COVID-19, he became the seventh coach in program history to lead the Tigers to the NCAA Tournament on Saturday.
LSU shot a dismal 35.7% from the field in the first half after making just one of its first 10 shots. The Tigers made two baskets in the first nine minutes before junior guard Javonte Smart knocked down a three-pointer to take a 7-6 lead.
LSU hung onto a 31-22 lead at the break as St. Bonaventure shot an even worse 23.3%. Freshman guard Cam Thomas and sophomore forward Trendon Watford led the Tigers in scoring with seven points apiece.
“I thought we really guarded in the first half,” Wade said. “Our offense was a little bit raggedy, but we guarded and that kept us in the game. The offense always comes around. For us, it’s about getting stops and rebounding, which is what we did a great job of.”
LSU began to pull away in the second half. The Tigers jumped out to a 16-point lead thanks to a 9-0 run led by Thomas, Watford and junior forward Darius Days. LSU cruised the rest of the way to a 76-61 victory.
“I thought our guys were prepared,” Wade said. “Our guys were ready to go. We prepared to the nth degree for this game both offensively and defensively. You want guys that perform on the big stage that can make big plays in big moments, and we did that today.”
Thomas scored 20 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line in the second half. He was on the court for almost the entirety of the game, logging 39 out of 40 minutes.
“In the second half, I just wanted to attack the basket,” Thomas said. “My threes and shots were a little off in the first half, so I had to get going by getting to the free throw line and getting to the basket. That’s what propelled us to win today.”
Thomas, the country’s fourth-leading scorer, turned in one of his best performances of the year on Saturday, finishing with a game-high 27 points, adding four rebounds and three assists. Thomas’ 27 points are the most by an LSU player in their NCAA Tournament debut since Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf’s 33-point game against UTEP in 1989. It was also Thomas’ 15th game of at least 25 points this season, the most by any SEC player in the last 25 years.
LSU dominated the glass with 45 rebounds compared to St. Bonaventure’s 29. Sophomore guard Aundre Hyatt remained in the starting lineup and recorded a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds (including seven offensive) while adding two assists, a steal and four blocks.
“Aundre Hyatt was phenomenal,” Wade said. “I thought he was just tremendous. What you saw today is what we see every day in practice. I trust him. He’s steady and you know where he’s gonna be. We went away from him a little bit during the middle of the year, but he earned that starting spot in his preseason and how hard he worked. He came up huge for us.”
Days (13 points, 11 rebounds) and Watford (11 points, 11 rebounds) also recorded double-doubles. Watford’s older brother, Christian, played college basketball at Indiana and hit one of the most iconic shots in Hoosier history to beat top-ranked Kentucky in 2011.
“The Watfords love Assembly Hall,” Wade said. “He was so excited to play here. He texted me as soon as he knew this was where we were playing. Christian and the family were in the arena today, so they were really fired up. I was so proud of him to be able to play well in a place that’s so special to their family.”
LSU will play the East’s No. 1-seeded Michigan in the second round on Monday after the Wolverines rolled past Texas Southern 82-66. LSU and Michigan have, faced each other three times in the programs’ history. The Wolverines lead the series 2-1, but the Tigers won the most recent matchup 77-75 on Nov. 20 in the 2017 Maui Invitational.
“We can certainly play better,” Wade said. “Our second half defense left a lot to be desired. We got driven too much. We’ve played a lot more physical lately. We did a great job on the glass. We’re gonna have to play our best game of the season on Monday, there’s no doubt about that. Hopefully we’re building towards that and can reach a crescendo on Monday.”