Skylar Mays ran back down the court in frustration.
Mays, a Baton Rouge native, missed his first three shot attempts, two of which were layups he was unable to convert right under the hoop, but LSU coach Johnny Jones didn’t pull his freshman point guard.
Jones told Mays to stay “aggressive.”
Two possessions later, Mays shook off his disgust, splitting through Wofford’s defense and sinking a layup to cut Wofford’s lead to 23-21.
His nerves disappeared.
“Just getting those jitters out,” Mays said. “I just tried to keep playing and make up for it on the defensive end.”
The former University High product didn’t find out he was starting the game until the starters were announced on the scoreboard, 20 minutes before tip-off.
Mays was efficient, finishing the game scoring 10 points and dishing out six assists and committing no turnovers in the Tigers 91-69 win.
As a team, LSU (1-0) only committed seven turnovers, which Jones gave credit to May’s ability to run LSU’s offense.
“We can really execute our offense when he has the ball out for us,” Jones said. “He’s a freshman, he doesn’t play like it.”
His crossover dunk to put LSU up 71-53 with 8:49 left in the game punctuated his performance on Saturday.
“It gave us energy,” said junior forward Duop Reath.
Mays was one of four LSU players, who shined in their debuts for the new-look Tigers.
Without junior forward Craig Victor, LSU’s game plan early in the game featured feeding its trio of frontcourt players. The combination of Reath, Aaron Epps and Wayde Sims totaled 53 points, and 31 rebounds.
The headliner of that group was 6-foot-10, 235-pound forward Reath, who constantly fended off double teams from Wofford whenever he touched the ball in the post.
The junior-college transfer led the team in scoring and rebounding, notching a double-double, scoring 24 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Reath made his presence known on the defensive end, blocking three shots and three steals.
Epps, who started in place of Victor, scored a career-high in points and in rebounds scoring 17 points and nine rebounds.
The junior forward, who was starting his fifth career game, said he put an emphasis on rebounding over the the summer.
“Just hustling and crashing the glass offensively,” Epps said. “That’s something I really focused on.”
Sims gave LSU a spark off the bench scoring 13 points and pulling down eight rebounds. The 6-foot-6, forward didn’t hesitate to shoot, with his first two shots of the game from three, and played 24 minutes in his debut.
“That’s Wayde,” Mays said, who was high school teammates with Sims. “He’s confident. He plays within himself and he doesn’t try to do anything out of his game. [Wofford] gave him open threes and he’s able to hit those shots and they were falling for him.”
Jones said his ability to play down low and step out on the perimeter gave LSU a good advantage.
The scoring from LSU’s frontcourt picked the slack from sophomore guards Antonio Blakeney and Brandon Sampson, who were a combined 5-of-19 shooting.
“We’re going to need them to score,” Jones said. “But if we can put up 91 points against a tough opponent and defend the way that we did, I think it’s a good sign for us.”
