It was a tale of two halves as LSU and sophomore point guard Tremont Waters rebounded from their woeful first half miscues to put together a dominating second-half performance and defeat the No. 18 Ole Miss Rebels (13-2, 3-0) on the road. 
It was a battle of two unbeaten Southeastern Conference teams Tuesday night when LSU (12-3, 2-0) came into Oxford.
It was a game not many people predicted before the season would hold so many conference implications, considering most of the media picked Ole Miss and first-year coach Kermit Davis to finish last in the conference.
It was a struggle early on for the Tigers to find offensive success against the Rebels. LSU went nearly four minutes into the game without a made basket until the 16:24 mark, when a dunk by freshman forward Emmitt Williams broke the scoring lull.
Both LSU and Ole Miss struggled early on from the behind the three-point line, with each team going 0-of-4. After the 0-of-4 start, LSU rebounded in the second half nicely by shooting an impressive 9-of-15 from three at 60 percent to stymie the Ole Miss runs.
The first half felt like Ole Miss was ahead by double digits with the Tigers just struggling to hang on amid their turnovers and shooting woes.
The first-half struggles were apparent for Waters, who finished the first half with five points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field while being accompanied by three turnovers. LSU would hold their own to end the first half, and they battled back to tie the game at 31 going into halftime
“It’s a game of runs,” said coach Will Wade to reporters after the game. 
Those words held true during the second half when LSU was able to put together a 9-0 run that truly separated the Tigers.
LSU led by as many as 12 points around the 8 minute mark in the second half, but each time the Tigers built a lead, the Rebels came storming back and were able to close it to within six points at 66-60 with 5:12 left. That would be the closest the Rebels would get it before LSU hit the gas one final time to put their stamp on this one.
Waters’ huge second half performance of 15 points on 5-of-6 from the field accompanied LSU’s size and length advantage proved to be the difference maker in this one.
Waters led all scorers with 20 points and helped spur on the Tigers offense to a 52-point offensive show in the second half that would ultimately drown the Rebels. Senior forward Kavell Bigby-Williams finished the night with his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 boards.
The schedule is set up well for Wade and his undefeated Tigers squad. They get the next two conference games in the friendly confines of the PMAC, where they have not lost a home game this season.
LSU returns home to face South Carolina this Saturday at 5 p.m.