LSU opened up the Maui Invitational tournament with a victory over the Michigan Wolverines thanks to a heroic effort from freshman point guard Tremont Waters.
Waters had an up and down night with a team high five turnovers but finished with 21 points and four assists.
“Everything starts in practice,” Waters said in his postgame press conference. “Our conditioning, our strength and conditioning overall with Coach Goldin, that sets our tone for our practice and going to practice and working on all our little things that we need to work on.”
The Tigers were careless with the ball at times, committing 14 turnovers which is a season high. However, another effective shooting night overall kept them in the game with a 59 percent clip.
A 10-0 run in the middle of the second half by Michigan appeared to be the turning point after LSU had controlled the lead for nearly 30 minutes of the game. The Tigers also lost junior guard Brandon Sampson, who fouled out with 5:35 to go in the contest after an effective defensive effort.
Sampson was one of four LSU players in double figures, and he was joined by senior forward Aaron Epps who finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting. Epps made a huge three that cut the Michigan lead to 73-72 with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining in the second half.
Waters was fantastic late in the game scoring 10 points in the final 6:38 of the game with some crafty layups and clutch threes. Waters made a huge defensive stop after diving for a loose ball at halfcourt, which was followed by an overhead pass that led to a dunk by sophomore guard Skylar Mays and a 76-74 LSU lead.
“I’m so proud of our players,” said LSU coach Will Wade in his postgame press conference. “We turned the page on our program tonight. We got down in the second half. I think they led by 8 or 9. We got down in the second half. And in the past we’d let that thing swell up and we’d have lost by 20, but we came back and gritted it out and found a way to win.”
Moritz Wagner and Charles Matthews led the way for the Wolverines as two of three players to score double figures with 24 and 28 a piece.
The Tigers will be back on the court tomorrow in the winner’s bracket when they take on No. 13 Notre Dame at 9 p.m. on ESPN.
