LSU holds off Greensboro 97-91

Naz Reid scored 29 points and Tremont Waters had 21 points and 10 assists as LSU defeated North Carolina-Greensboro 97-91 in a non-conference game at the PMAC on Friday night.

DECISIVE STRETCH OF THE GAME

The Tigers, who trailed for most of the opening 11 minutes of the game, took control with a 12-0 coming down the stretch of the first half. Trailing 27-25, LSU tied the score on two foul shots by Darius Days. A three-point play by Skylar Mays put the Tigers in front for good. Reid made two baskets, one a 3-pointer, and Waters had a field goal as LSU went on top 37-27. The Tigers built a 13-point halftime advantage at 49-36. LSU did have to withstand a couple of UNC-Greensboro runs in the second half.

LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME

Reid, who had 17 points in the season-opener against Southeastern Louisiana, was far more efficient against the Spartans. Reid made 11 of his 14 field goal attempts, including 4-of-6 on 3-pointers. Reid had missed four of his five 3-point shots against SLU. Reid also made all three of his free throws and grabbed seven rebounds – two big ones on the defensive end of the floor in the last minute and a half.

KEY TEAM STATISTICS

Field goal shooting: UNCG 57% (34-of-60), LSU 56% (30-of-54)

Three-point field goal shooting: UNCG 58% (19-of-33), LSU 50% (9-of-18)

Free throw shooting: LSU 90% (28-of-31), UNCG 44% (4-of-9)

Rebounds: LSU 34, UNCG 18

Points in the paint: LSU 38, UNCG 24

Points off turnovers: LSU 20, UNCG 5

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

LSU

Naz Reid: 29 points, 7 rebounds

Tremont Waters: 21 points, 10 assists, 6 steals

Ja’vonte Smart: 13 points, 5 rebounds

Skylar Mays: 9 points, 5 rebounds

Emmitt Williams: 7 points, 5 rebounds

UNC-GREENSBORO

Kyrin Galloway: 32 points

Francis Alonso: 20 points, 5 assists

Isaiah Miller: 13 points, 6 assists

Demetrius Troy: 11 points, 6 rebounds

NOTES

LSU’s starting lineup consisted of Reid and Williams in the post, Smart and Mays on the wings and Waters at point guard. The five starters all played at least 23 minutes. . .Waters registered the sixth double-double of his career with 21 points and 10 assists. The 10 assists were one shy of his career-high which came against Arkansas last season. Waters was 7-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-3 on 3-pointers. He had six steals – giving him 11 in the first two games. . .Smart did not miss a shot. He was 2-of-2 from the field, including one 3-pointer, and 8-of-8 at the foul line. . .Days and Williams combined for 16 points. Days was 2-of-3 from the field, while Williams made two of his four field goal attempts. . .Mays was the only LSU player who did not make 50 percent of his field goal attempts. Mays was 2-of-10. He missed all four of his 3-point shots. . .Marlon Taylor had five points and three rebounds in 19 minutes. . .Daryl Edwards had two points in 17 minutes. . .Kavell Bigby-Williams had two points, three rebounds and two blocked shots in eight minutes. . .The Tigers made their first 22 foul shots until Williams missed with 2:39 remaining in the game. . .Reid and Waters each had five of the Tigers’ 17 turnovers. . .UNCG made two runs at LSU in the second half. The Spartans pulled within seven points at 52-45 less than two minutes after halftime. The Tigers then went on a 17-8 run to go ahead by 16 points. Reid and Waters accounted for 10 of the 17 points. LSU had a 16-point advantage at 84-68 with 6:22 remaining in the game. With Galloway making four 3-pointers, Greensboro outscored the Tigers 20-9. A Galloway 3-pointer left UNCG behind 93-88 with 13 seconds to play. Both Mays and Waters sank a pair of foul shots to clinch the victory for LSU. . .Galloway’s 32 points were a career-high. He had never scored more than 15 points in a game in his career. Galloway also made eight 3-pointers. He had never made more than two treys in his career. . .LSU is 2-0, while UNC-Greensboro is 1-1. . .The paid attendance was 8,613. The actual crowd was about 5,200.

FROM THE LOCKER ROOM

Coach Will Wade’s comments: “The two things that saved us were our rebounding our making more free throws than they attempted. It’s really tough to win when you give up 19 3s and you turn the ball over 17 times. It’s hard to score 97 points when you turn it over like that. So, give our guys credit. It’s a huge, huge win. Greensboro would never go away. They kept chipping away. Our effort defensively was good. Our execution is what’s lacking a little bit. Naz was really, really good and Tremont played well. Even more than Naz’s points were the two big rebounds he got in the last minute and a half. Those were huge winning plays. This was a good litmus test for where we are and what we need to improve on.”

UP NEXT

LSU will play host to Memphis at the PMAC on Tuesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Central. Memphis (1-0) defeated Tennessee Tech 76-61 at home Tuesday night. The LSU-Memphis game will be available on the SEC Network.

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