The Will Wade era opened with a win as the Tigers cruised past the Alcorn State Braves 99-59.
LSU brought the pressure early going on an opening 17-4 run sparked by a full court press and tough defense. The Tigers mixed it up on defense splitting time between man-to-man and a 1-3-1 zone defense.
The Tigers shot 61 percent from the field, the best mark by season opener since 1997 and 58 percent from three point range, the best opening day mark since 2006.
Wade said the team did an all around good job on both ends of the floor while not being out of control.
“The second half we did a better job of controlling the paint,” Wade said. “I thought we did a nice job valuing the ball and forcing some of their turnovers.”
Nine turnovers were forced in the first half that led to 14 points off turnovers while LSU committed just seven the whole game.
Freshman guard Tremont Waters opened his LSU career with some jaw dropping plays. Waters finished with 27 points and six assists — including a beautiful save out of bounds that he flipped to senior forward Duop Reath for an easy dunk — five boards and five steals.
“The last two weeks he’s been phenomenal in practice,” Wade said. “Now not every night is going to go like that and I thought him and Mays complemented each other really well with 12 assists and two turnovers.”
Waters said the debut felt good and the execution was there all night on both ends of the floor.
“I feel like my teammates have more trust in me,” Waters said. “I was just able to go out and play and not let myself get rattled. My teammates helped me with that since they’ve been through it before.”
To end the half, Waters scored eight straight points, giving LSU a comfortable 51-34 lead.
Junior guard Brandon Sampson also seemed engaged on the defensive end, forcing two steals and two blocks, something he didn’t do once last season.
The 11,856 fans in attendance was the largest opening day crowd in the past 20 years and Sampson said the Tigers needed every single one of them.
Wade thanked the crowd after the game for showing up on behalf of the program.
“It meant a lot to our guys,” Wade said. “I thought the crowd, the band was great. Our goal was 11,500 and we’ve been working super hard.”
Sampson added the fans played a big part in sustaining momentum for 40 minutes in a game where the Tigers never trailed.
“I give them full credit,” Sampson said. “I don’t think we would’ve had half the momentum if the crowd didn’t show up. The student section was great and it was take off from there.”
LSU opened the second half on a 12-0 run to blow open a 29 point advantage.
The defensive intensity Wade has preached to his team from day one was apparent tonight as the Tigers held Alcorn State to 39 percent shooting and forced 16 turnovers in the game.
Up next for the Tigers is a Thursday night matchup with Sanford with tip-off expected for 7 p.m. from the Maravich Center.
