For the third time this season, LSU had to battle back from a first half deficit.
Entering halftime, LSU (6-2) trailed 43-36 to North Carolina Central University (6-6), but a second half offensive surge, led by sophomore guard Antonio Blakeney, propelled LSU to a 70-66 win versus the Eagles.
Having a 14-day layoff attributed to LSU’s slow start, sophomore guard Brandon Sampson said, but a lack of energy also plagued the Tigers early, he said.
“We have to have energy on a consistent basis,” Sampson said. “That’ll help us on the defensive end.”
The Tigers had issues guarding NCCU from the field early on. The Eagles shot 61 percent from the field and were 5-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half.
The second half told a different story, especially in the closing minutes.
With less than a minute left in the game, Sampson came up with two key defensive stops. Trailing 69-66, NCCU guard Patrick Cole attempted a game-tying 3-point shot, but Sampson blocked his shot out of bounds.
The following play, Sampson forced Cole to turn the ball over, giving LSU the ball with 12 seconds left.
“I thought Brandon did an excellent job of making two huge plays,” said LSU coach Johnny Jones. “We know that he has that type of ability. We’ve got to put him in situations at the beginning of the game to get that type of energy and effort from the start.”
Cole, who had a team-high 19 points, was called for a technical foul with 15:33 left in the second half after arguing with Blakeney and calling him “trash.”
“He was talking to me in warmups,” Blakeney said about Cole. “But you see what happened to him.”
Blakeney went on to score a game-high 27 points, with 18 of those points coming after halftime, shooting 7-for-9 in second half.
Stopping NCCU on the defensive end was the main emphasis at halftime, Blakeney said. The Tigers held NCCU to 29 percent shooting after the break.
“They were shooting the ball really well going into halftime,” he said. “We held them to 29 percent in the second half and that’s when we started playing better.”
After winning their third game from trailing after halftime, Jones said he was pleased with how the Tigers have been able to adjust in games this season.
“We’re 6-2,” Jones said. “I like this team and I like they way they’re performing. I like the way they can adjust and make plays, dig down a little bit deeper when they had to tonight.”
Notes
Junior guard Jalyn Patterson was ill for most of the game, Jones said.
Patterson left the Tigers bench with less than two minutes to play in the first half and Jones was unsure if he would play in the second half.
“Jalyn had left the bench,” Jones said. “He wasn’t available for us at the end of the first half.”
Patterson was able to finish the game shooting 0-for-5 and playing 17 minutes.
Junior college transfer guard Branden Jenkins is still not healthy to play this season, Jones said.
Jenkins had surgery on his left knee in the offseason, but was able to going through shootaround before LSU defeated NCCU.
Jones said there’s no timetable set for Jenkins, but he is showing progress.
“He’s getting closer,”Jones said. “A lot better. We’re hopeful we don’t have an exact timetable. We look forward to getting him out there.”
