Just good enough
Tigers defense shines, offense struggles in win
The LSU men’s basketball team shot just 31.3 percent from the field Thursday night. Time and again, the Tigers failed to create separation against an opponent it often had on the cusp of a knockout blow.
Excuse coach Trent Johnson if he wasn’t excited about what he saw.
“That was pretty,” Johnson said, teeming with sarcasm, as he began his postgame news conference. “I thought we were excellent. I thought it was the best game since I’ve been here.”
The good news for Johnson is his Tigers were good enough to continue their winning ways.
Turning once again to a defense that has become the team’s calling card, LSU shook off its offensive struggles to score a 66-59 victory over UC-Irvine before an announced crowd of 7,469 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
When the Tigers (7-3) welcome 11th-ranked Marquette to town Monday night, they will do so having won four games in a row and six of their last seven.
All six opponents LSU has beaten in that stretch have failed to reach 60 points.
“The positive is we were fortunate enough to win,” Johnson said. “We found a way to win.”
The Tigers played their second straight game without leading scorer Andre Stringer, who experienced a fainting spell at practice last week.
Without him, LSU had a hard time opening things up against UC-Irvine’s sagging zone defense.
Justin Hamilton had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season. Eddie Ludwig, making his second straight start, matched a career high with 12 points.
John Isaac, who returned to action after missing one game with a leg injury, helped lead an LSU bench that scored 23 points. All five reserves logged at least 12 minutes and scored at least three points.
But after missing their first six shots from the field, the Tigers were rarely in rhythm on the offensive end.
Ralston Turner went 2-for-17 from the field, scoring nine points. Freshman starters Anthony Hickey and Johnny O’Bryant III combined for eight points, making 1 of 10 shots from the field.
For UC-Irvine (2-8), Michael Wilder scored 16 of his game-high 19 points in the second half to help make it interesting late.
“We all had some good looks and didn’t get them to go down the way we wanted to,” Turner said. “We’re going to continue to stay aggressive and just continue to take the shots.”
There were times Friday when it seemed the Tigers were about to pull away.
LSU steadily built its lead to 28-14 just before halftime, in large part because UC-Irvine shot only 21.9 percent from the field − and committed nine turnovers − through the first 20 minutes.
Ludwig’s 3-pointer just after the break gave LSU a 31-16 cushion.
The Anteaters started to make a game of it when Wilder sparked a 9-0 run midway through the second half. A lead that had hit 14 on an Isaac jumper with 11:47 remaining was down to four with 6:22 showing.
“It really came down to hustle plays,” Ludwig said. “It seems like more times than not, they were beating us to the 50-50 balls.”
Key plays by Hamilton and Ludwig helped LSU get the needed breathing room.
First, Hamilton received a pass from Ludwig along the baseline and threw down a dunk to make it a 56-49 game. Then, Ludwig made a move at the top of the key with the shot clock winding down and hit a long 2-pointer for a 59-49 advantage.
UC-Irvine kept coming, but got no closer than five the rest of the way.
The Tigers, riding their longest winning streak since early in the 2009-10 season, now turn their focus to the stiffest test they’ve seen so far.
“It’s going to be a big challenge for us, but it’s also a great opportunity,” Turner said. “It’s just another opportunity for us to get a good win and keep getting better.”