If the adage “defense wins championships” holds true, the No. 7 LSU men’s basketball team should be feeling pretty good about its chances this season. The Tigers’ defense was the story of this past weekend’s games as LSU defeated the Nicholls State University Colonels on Friday night, 96-42, and beat the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks on Sunday, 88-57. The Tigers held the Colonels to 20.6 percent shooting, and the Warhawks did not fare much better against LSU, hitting on 32.8 percent of their shots. LSU coach John Brady said his defensive strategy before every game is to shut down the opponent’s top two scorers and make players who are not used to scoring carry the offensive load. That strategy panned out well for the Tigers. Nicholls State’s top two scorers, junior guard Adonis Gray and junior forward Aaron Scott, made only 6 of 26 shots Friday against the Tigers. LSU followed that performance by holding the Warhawks’ leading scorer, sophomore guard Tony Hooper, to 3-for-15 shooting, including 1-for-10 shooting in the first half and 0-for-7 from behind the 3-point line. “Tony Hooper on their team is, on a smaller scale, like a J.J. Redick for Duke,” Brady said. “Everybody’s got that kind of player that means that much to their team. Garrett Temple is as good a defender as there is, and I don’t know if Tony’s ever seen a guy quite like him.” Brady also said that slowing down Hooper’s offensive production was one reason LSU’s first-half lead ballooned to 22 points. Offensively, the Tigers had no trouble putting points on the scoreboard against the zone defense that both LSU opponents utilized. Four LSU players scored in double figures Friday night, with senior forward Darnell Lazare, junior forward Glen Davis and sophomore guard Garrett Temple leading the way with 16 points each. Lazare also added 10 rebounds for the first double-double of his career. Lazare said he was not aware of his accomplishment until after the game. “I was just out there trying to play hard and just trying to do the things necessary for our team to win the game,” he said. The Tigers closed the first half against the Colonels with a 22-2 run to increase the halftime score to 44-18. Brady said one major complaint he had about the Tigers’ offense was that Davis was not involved in the offense. “I called timeout at the 5 minute mark, and I told the players on the floor, ‘OK, everybody has shot the ball except this guy – Glen Davis,'” Brady said. “‘Throw him the ball once, and let him shoot it. Now it’s his turn.’ There was nothing intentional about our players doing that. They’re eager to do well, and they want to do well. The point is we were rushing ourselves early in the game to score.” Davis finished the game 4-for-5 from the field and 7-for-8 from the free-throw line. “[My teammates] had some open shots, but our main focus, the thing that we concentrate on, is establishing the post,” Davis said. “That’s what Coach Brady wanted to get across to the team.” Davis had no problems getting involved in the offense Sunday, scoring 26 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the win against the Warhawks. Junior forward Tasmin Mitchell helped anchor the offense along with Davis. Mitchell scored 21 points in the game and did not miss a field goal until midway through the second half. “I felt pretty good tonight,” Mitchell said. “I hit a couple [shots and] got in a little zone, and I felt like I couldn’t miss.”
—–Contact Tyler Batiste at [email protected]