LSU coach Johnny Jones emphasized the importance of being a balanced scoring team.
During the season’s first media news conference in October, he said constantly moving the ball and scoring from the inside-out would make his team’s offensive attack harder to scout and suppress.
Sophomore guard Antonio Blakeney echoed that sentiment, citing LSU’s knockdown shooters and bigs who can finish at the rim. Sophomore guard Brandon Sampson said scoring is second nature for this year’s Tiger squad.
LSU opened the season posting 82.3 points per game through its first three contests before laying a 47-point dud against Wichita State last week. Jones hinted that the three-game stand at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament was an eye-opener for his team, which ranks 267th in the nation with a 31.8 three-point shooting percentage.
“It’s huge for us having an opportunity to get back home after going to the Bahamas, playing three really tough games against some really stiff competition,” Jones said. “I thought the trip really served a purpose for us because we came back with a different focus, mindset in terms of how we needed to play [and] at the level.”
An area where LSU erred in the overseas tournament, in which it dropped two of three games, was from three. LSU shot 4-25 from three against the Shockers and posted similar numbers in the two other contests.
In total, the Tigers shot a combined 11-55 from long range in the Bahamas at a 20 percent conversion rate. Meanwhile, LSU’s opponents splashed 21 triples, shooting 40 percent.
In its first game back home, against an undefeated and high-scoring Houston team, LSU — which ranks sixth in its conference for three-pointers made — seemingly made a concerted effort to amend that long-range shooting deficiency.
Blakeney and Sampson, who entered the contest shooting 21.4 and 28.6 percent from three, were a combined 7-for-12 from behind the arc as LSU concluded the 84-65 victory shooting 12.6 percent higher than its season average.
“It’s great to see them get back to their rhythm here at home, and it was needed for us early on for them to feel good to be able to play well,” Jones said. “They had a good balance tonight in terms of driving the ball, getting to the rim and then when the opportunity presented itself, they had good looks and knocked some shots down.”
Junior forward Craig Victor II’s return to the starting lineup played a large part in Blakeney’s and Sampson’s enhanced sniping percentage, Blakeney said.
“It helps us a lot because he slows us down,” Blakeney said. “If I take a bad shot, he don’t mind telling me ‘That’s a bad shot. Let’s try to get a better one.’ Just his veteran matureness helps our offense a lot.”
Jones said Tuesday’s win was the most complete performance from his team this season. LSU tallied 46 points in the paint and 24 came from three.
LSU doesn’t play again until after finals week on Dec. 13 against North Carolina Central. In the meantime, Jones plans on practicing the same things that led to open looks against Houston so the Tigers can pick up right where they left off on Tuesday.
“Offensively, we’ve got to keep making sure that we’re doing a great job of sharing the ball in these next two weeks,” Jones said. “We’ll use a lot of that time emphasizing why we won this game tonight.”
LSU seeking balanced scoring attack after fifth win vs. Houston
November 30, 2016
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