LSU 79 South Carolina 64
Behind a career night from freshman Glen Davis the LSU basketball team defeated South Carolina 79-64 Wednesday night at the PMAC.
Davis had career highs in points (28) and rebounds (14) to help the Tigers snap a two game losing streak.
“Our backs were against the wall and we delivered tonight,” Davis said.
After taking a 10-point lead into the locker room at halftime, LSU went on a 16-0 run early in the second half to put the game out of reach. Darrel Mitchell had 18 points and was 5-of-8 from three point range. Sophomore forward Brandon Bass added 12 points and Antonio Hudson had 11.
“The impression that I have right now of the game is that everything we wanted to be showed up tonight,” said LSU coach John Brady.
 
Alabama 73 LSU 58
Dropping its first game in Southeastern Conference play, the Tigers had a nine-minute scoring drought, falling at Alabama 73-58 on Jan. 8.
Freshman forward Glen Davis led the Tigers with 13 points, but the Crimson Tide’s Kennedy Winston stole the show with a game-high 21 points.
LSU trailed 35-34 at halftime, and the Tigers kept pace in the second half until the 16:06 mark, trailing 43-42.
The Tide went on a 17-0 run to take a 62-45 lead with 7:10 left in the game.
The Tigers trimmed the lead to 65-57 with 3:40 remaining, but LSU could not get any closer as the Tide went on a 8-1 run to close the game.
 
LSU 83 Northwestern State 74
All five of the Tigers’ starters scored in double digits against the Demons on Dec. 11 in the PMAC.
Brandon Bass led LSU with 22 points and 14 rebounds followed by junior guard Darrel Mitchell who scored 20 points and had five assists.
LSU hit 44 percent of its shots, including 9-of-21 from 3-point range.
The Tigers took a 42-34 lead after going on a 15-6 run to close the first half. But Northwestern drew within a basket of the Tigers at the 7:44 mark in the second half, making it a 64-62 LSU advantage.
The Tigers then responded with a 12-2 run and never looked back, securing a nine-point victory.
“Offensively, we’re fine in that way,” LSU coach John Brady said after the game. “We struggled a little bit with the odd-man front zone again but did some things against it that got us more down on the baseline where we could operate against it a little bit better.”
 
LSU 82 McNeese State 79
Despite squandering a 22-point lead in the second half, the Tigers escaped overtime against McNeese State on Dec. 13 in the PMAC. Cowboys guard Edward Garriet, who led all scorers with 31 points, missed a 3-pointer at the buzzer that would have tied the game.
LSU led the contest 41-35 at halftime before going on a 14-0 run to open the second half, and the Tigers held a 78-65 lead with 4:10 remaining in the game.
Bass led LSU with 27 points and 7 rebounds, while freshman forward Glen Davis had 15 points and seven boards.
LSU outscored McNeese, but the Cowboys had a 50-47.7 advantage in field goal percentage over the Tigers.
The Tigers extended their winning streak against in-state schools to 52 games with the win.
“I’ll be honest with you, the last 10 minutes of that game, we
invented ways to try to give it away,” Brady said after the game. “It was absolutely a comedy of errors by our team.”
 
Southern Mississippi 88 LSU 84
For the first time under Brady, the LSU men’s basketball team lost a game in which it scored 80 points or more on Dec. 18 in Biloxi, Miss. against Southern Mississippi.
The Tigers trailed 40-29 at the half before going on a 23-12 run to open the second half, then tying the game at 52-52 with 12:34 left in the game.
After a slam dunk by Davis the Tigers led 73-67 with 2:24 remaining.
But the Golden Eagles closed regulation with a 10-4 run to tie the game at 77-77 and force overtime.
Davis led the Tigers with 27 points. Bass recorded a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the game.
There were six lead changes and two ties during the extra period, but Southern Mississippi was able to take the game by a four-point margin in the end.
Houston 81 LSU 72
LSU lost its second straight road game to Conference-USA opponent Houston on Dec. 21.
The Tigers jumped out to a 14-7 lead six minutes into the game, but the Cougars clawed back to take a 37-35 lead at the break.
Houston extended its lead to 56-40 with 13:55 left in the game. The Cougars led by as many as 19 points before the Tigers got within seven points with less than two minutes remaining.
Bass led the Tigers with 22 points and 15 rebounds. Senior guard Antonio Hudson was the only other Tiger to score in double figures with 20 points.
Cougars guard Lanny Smith led Houston with 22 points and Houston out-rebounded LSU 42-39 in the contest.
“We need to get better at rebounding and playing defense,” Brady said after the game. “I am determined to work on that and make it better. It’s not a strategy problem with the defense; we couldn’t stop the one-on-one plays.”
 
LSU 67 Florida State 50
The Tigers closed 2004 with a win in the New Orleans Arena against Florida State on Dec. 30.
LSU took a 33-18 lead with 3:54 left in the first half, but the
Seminoles closed the gap to 35-27 at halftime.
Florida State continued to chip away at LSU’s lead in the second half, making the score 47-42 with 7:52 left. But the Tigers went on a 10-2 run to take the lead 58-44 and never looked back.
Sophomore guard Tack Minor led the Tigers with a career-high 23 points along with nine assists.
LSU out-rebounded Florida State 42-30.
“I’m glad our team responded the way we did to the challenge we put to them to rebound and defend better,” Brady said after the game.
“Our team just needs to get better at defending and rebounding, and I think we started toward that tonight.”
 
Utah 69 LSU 55
LSU rang in the New Year with a tough loss to Utah in Salt Lake City on Jan. 3.
The Tigers opened the game with a 6-1 run, but Utah tied the game 6-6 at the 17:42 mark of the first half.
There were six ties in the first half, and the lead changed hands seven times during the period, including a 3-pointer from Utes guard Tim Drisdom to give Utah a 35-34 advantage at halftime.
LSU kept it close in the second half and trailed by only three
points after Minor’s tip-in with 13:31 left.
Utah then went on a 7-0 run to lead 54-44, and the
Tigers could never close the seven point gap for the rest of the game.
Utah forward Andrew Bogut led the Utes with 24 points and 17 rebounds.
Bass led the Tigers with 17 points and nine rebounds.
Utah dominated the boards, out-rebounding LSU 61-47.
Results for the game between LSU and Ohio State could not be added before press time.
Sports Writer Elliott Brown
contributed to this story.