Two of LSU basketball’s newest assets played inspired basketball, lifting the Tigers past Western Kentucky, 76-57, on Friday at the Charleston Classic.
Junior center and Iowa State transfer Justin Hamilton poured in 18 points and notched nine rebounds, combining with freshman point guard Anthony Hickey’s 17 and 7 to help LSU snap its early two-game losing streak.
LSU (2-2) continued some of its early-season defensive struggles in the first half and only led the Hilltoppers, 40-38, at the break.
But the Tigers clamped down in the second half, limiting Western Kentucky (1-3) to just 19 second-half points and using a 16-0 spurt midway through the final period to run away with the consolation bracket contest.
For the day, LSU’s defense forced 20 Hilltopper turnovers and held its opponent to the lowest shooting percentage — 32 percent — through four games.
The diminutive Hickey keyed the Tigers’ crucial second-half run, scoring six points and dishing out two assists in a three-minute span to break the game open.
“I thought [Hickey] did a very good job today,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson in a post-game radio interview. “He made good decisions. He was able to sometimes slow things down and get us in to some solid offense. He has good quickness, but it’s about knowing when to push and when to make good decisions. He did so today.”
Hamilton tallied his career high in points, continued to be LSU’s most consistent mid-range shooter, made all eight of his free throw attempts and scored eight of the Tigers’ final 16 points.
Senior forward Storm Warren also contributed nine points and seven rebounds, sophomore guard Ralston Turner finally made multiple 3-pointers to finish with eight points and seldom-used sophomore forward Jalen Courtney added five points and five rebounds to the Tigers’ most complete effort yet this season.
LSU will take on the winner of tonight’s matchup between 2011 Final Four participant Virginia Commonwealth and Georgia Tech on Sunday afternoon in the classic’s fifth-place game.