The LSU backcourt did not miss a beat without Antonio Hudson in the lineup against Tulane on Tuesday night, with the Tigers running away with the contest, 67-48 in front of 6,804 fans at the PMAC.
Darrel Mitchell, starting in place of the injured Hudson, scored a season-high 19 points, which tied his career high.
“At the beginning it [felt different starting the game],” Mitchell said. “But I kind of got into the flow, and it started flowing a whole lot easier.”
Mitchell drained 4-of-8 from behind the 3-point line for the Tigers, igniting the LSU offense at times.
“That kind of gave me my confidence, because I’ve been a little sluggish on my 3-point shooting,” Mitchell said. “It gets the crowd into it. They’ve been kind of on me about the threes, asking me when I was going to step up and hit some. That was their Christmas present.”
Hudson was sidelined with an ankle injury he suffered against Southern Mississippi last Saturday. He is expected to return this Saturday against UAB in the Nokia Sugar Bowl Classic in New Orleans.
“We missed him a little bit tonight from time-to-time,” said LSU coach John Brady.
Freshman guard Tack Minor came off the bench to play 25 minutes. Minor made the most of his time on the court, scoring 12 points and dishing out five assists in the contest.
“I thought Tack Minor had his best game in an LSU uniform so far,” Brady said. “I think Tack Minor demonstrated some of his quickness tonight and some of his ability to get in the paint.”
The Tigers (7-0) used a staunch defensive effort to stymie Tulane. The Green Wave shot only 34.4 percent from the field and committed 17 turnovers.
Wayne Tinsley led the Green Wave in scoring with 12 points. Vytas Tatarunas added 10 points – on 4-of-14 shooting – and nine rebounds.
LSU did not shoot the ball well, netting 40.7 percent of its shots. But the Tigers committed only 10 turnovers and used a couple big runs to bury the Green Wave.
Tulane (5-3) jumped out to an early lead, 20-15, in the first half. But the Green Wave would not score in the remaining 8:08 of the first half. LSU took advantage and used a 17-0 run to blow the game open and take a 32-20 halftime lead.
Tulane did not back down, scoring the first six points of the second half to cut the lead to 32-26. LSU used a 9-0 to pull away from Tulane, 44-28. The Green Wave would get as close as nine points with 8:26 remaining before LSU exploded with a 16-4 run.
Jaime Lloreda had his second double-double in as many games, totaling 22 points and 10 rebounds. Against USM, Lloreda scored 15 points and 16 rebounds and Lloreda has four double-doubles on the season.
“I thought Jaime started the game a little sluggish,” Brady said. “Then, he got going a little bit. But I don’t think he played with the energy that he played with in the Utah game. He hasn’t played with that kind of energy the last two [games], and he still gets 22 points and 10 rebounds.”
LSU extended it home win streak to 12 games. The last time Tulane played LSU in the PMAC was 1982, with Tulane defeating LSU 83-72. The Tigers lead the overall series 121-83.
“It was a good win for our team,” Brady said. “I think we defended them pretty well. For a while there, we looked like we could play with anybody in the country.
“It’s a 20-point win for LSU against Tulane, and I feel good for our players.”