LSU coach John Brady sounded relieved after slipping past cross-town rival Southern on Friday night, 70-59, in front of 4, 390 people in the PMAC.
“I was pleased to win the game,” Brady said. “Before the game I was as apprehensive and had more anxiety about this one than I’ve really had in a long time.”
LSU (1-0) never truly pulled away from the Jaguars (0-1) until the final minute of the contest.
The Tigers stumbled out of the gate, falling behind Southern 10-4 five minutes into the contest. LSU regained the lead, 14-12, after a Darrel Mitchell steal and lay-up but the Jaguars stayed on LSU’s heels.
After falling behind 21-15, Southern used an 8-1 run to retake the lead 23-22 with 3:18 to play in the first half. But LSU closed out the half on a 10-5 run, capped by an Antonio Hudson alley oop dunk with three seconds to play to give the Tigers a 32-27 first half advantage.
LSU committed 14 turnovers in the first half, much to Brady’s displeasure.
“The turnover situation the first half was ridiculous and certainly not good enough,” Brady said.
LSU took its first double digit lead with 16:51 to play in the second half, 39-29.
But Southern did not quit and was able to cut the Tigers’ lead to three, 41-38. SU used an 8-0 run to tie the game at 48 halfway through the second half. But a 3-pointer by freshman forward Regis Koundjia ignited the LSU crowd and sent the Tigers on a 9-1 run to pull away from the Jags.
“We just gutted it out and found a way to win,” Brady said. “We didn’t play great. We played pretty good at times and played not good at times. The main thing is we found a way to put it together at moments and score enough points and play good enough defense to win it.”
The Tigers played more consistently in the second half, turning the ball over just seven times. LSU shot 52 percent from the field for the game and held Southern to 41 percent shooting.
“You’ve got to credit the Southern team,” Brady said. “I thought they played well. They had a chance or two there early in the second half to get rattled and they didn’t.
“Obviously, we’re going to play better teams than Southern as we move along, but the most important thing is we won the game. We just need to keep learning and keep growing.”
Antonio Hudson led the Tigers with 20 points in 33 minutes. Two Tigers freshmen – Brandon Bass and Darnell Lazare – scored in double digits for the Tigers.
Bass recorded a double-double in his first regular season game as a Tiger with 15 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks in a team-high 37 minutes.
Lazare, starting in place of suspended forward Jaime Lloreda, stepped up in the middle for LSU, recording 13 points on 5-of-5 shooting from the field.
“I felt good,” Lazare said after the game. “I didn’t get tired. It was fun playing a rivalry school. To get the victory in the first game, I was pleased.”
Lazare said getting 36 minutes of playing time in place of Lloreda was an opportunity he wanted to take advantage of in the first game of the season.
“What happened to Jaime [Lloreda], that just gave me an opportunity to come out and play and show coach that if he needs me to go in and play big minutes, I’ll be ready to go,” Lazare said.
Four freshmen saw playing time for the Tigers in the opener – Lazare, Bass, Koundjia and Ross Neltner – and played quality minutes. Lazare said this experience will only help LSU down the road.
“[This was a] great experience,” Lazare said. “We all got to play some big minutes. We get to see what it’s like when the score is close. I think we did a decent job of trying to execute when we needed to.”
Lloreda is expected to return tonight against McNeese State (1-0) for the Tigers. The game starts at 7 p.m. in the PMAC.