Hamilton takes over in overtime
Justin Hamilton took a charge from Auburn forward Kenny Gabriel and tumbled backward onto the court — a long way to fall for a 7-footer — clinching both fists in exultation.
Just a few moments earlier Auburn had forced overtime in part thanks to Gabriel, who’s high-flying putback of a missed Frankie Sullivan 3-pointer was SportsCenter worthy in its athleticism and tied the game 53-53 on the way to 56-56 at the end of regulation.
But in overtime, Hamilton reasserted himself and helped LSU pull out the win. The LSU center had two big baskets and a rebound in the extra frame after going scoreless in the second half, finishing with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds in his team’s 65-58 victory.
“Coach (Trent Johnson) reminded us the last time we were in overtime we hit a dead spot against South Alabama,” said Hamilton, recalling LSU’s Nov. 23 come-from-ahead 79-75 loss, when the Tigers let a 10-point first-half lead slip away.
It looked like more of the same against Auburn (11-7, 1-3 Southeastern Conference). LSU led by 13 with 5:00 left in the first half, but a 14-0 Auburn run gave the visiting Tigers a 38-34 lead to start the second half that ballooned to eight points (46-38) with 11:32 remaining.
Hamilton, who came in averaging 19 points and 11.5 rebounds over LSU’s previous five games, was outdueled by 6-10 Auburn center Rob Chubb – he had 15 points and a game-high 12 rebounds – for much of the second half. But Hamilton didn’t allow himself to get frustrated.
“They did a good job mixing up their defense and switching between Chubb and Gabriel to make sure they didn’t get the ball to me,” Hamilton said. “I just tried to spark the team. I didn’t get the ball so I made plays to help the team.”
In overtime, Hamilton scored LSU’s first basket with a jumper from the left side of the free-throw line.
After taking the charge on Gabriel with 2:15 remaining, Hamilton was credited with a basket with 44.2 seconds when Gabriel was whistled for goaltending to put LSU ahead two scores, 63-58.
Following two straight road losses at Alabama (69-53) and Arkansas (69-60), the importance of getting a home win for LSU (12-6, 2-2 SEC) wasn’t lost on Hamilton.
“We wanted to make a big point of protecting our home floor,” he said. “We needed to get that home win and keep battling in the SEC.”
Hickey, Stringer benched
Anthony Hickey ended up leading LSU with 18 points and Andre Stringer drained a clutch 3-pointer in front of his team’s bench for his only basket with 1:22 left in OT, but the bench is where both players started Tuesday for disciplinary reasons.
Johnson said both players were late to a video session.
In their place, Chris Bass and John Isaac made their first starts at point and off guard, respectively.
O’Bryant on the mend
Johnson said freshman forward Johnny O’Bryant III will have X-rays evaluated Thursday to gauge how well his broken hand is mending.
O’Bryant suffered a broken fourth metacarpal bone on his left hand going up for a rebound in practice, an injury that required surgery Jan. 5.
Initially it was expected that O’Bryant – who averages 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in 14 games – would miss a month. But Johnson indicated he could be cleared to play sooner.
“I’ll have a better feel for that when Shawn (Eddy, team trainer) talks to me Thursday,” Johnson said. “In a perfect world he could be cleared Thursday or Friday. But he’s not playing until he’s in no pain.”
Troublesome trio ahead
LSU could certainly use O’Bryant as its next three games are all against ranked opponents.
The Tigers play Saturday at No. 17 Florida (5 p.m. CST, Fox Sports Net), then Wednesday at No. 18 Mississippi State and return home Jan. 28 to host No. 2 Kentucky.