LSU defeats Memphis 85-76
Skylar Mays scored a season-high 19 points as LSU defeated Memphis 85-76 in a non-conference game at the PMAC on Tuesday night.
DECISIVE STRETCH OF THE GAME
LSU lost a nine-point halftime advantage in the first 5½ minutes of the second half. A 3-pointer by Tyler Harris put Memphis ahead 52-50 with 14:38 remaining in the game. Following an exchange of baskets, LSU put together a game-deciding run. A field goal by Emmitt Williams tied the score at 54-54. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Mays and Naz Reid gave LSU a 60-54 lead. After a foul shot by Isaiah Maurice, Ja’vonte Smart made consecutive field goals to put LSU in front 64-55 with 10:08 left in the game. Memphis came no closer than seven points during the rest of the second half.
LSU PLAYER OF THE GAME
Mays nearly matched his point total from the first two games Tuesday. Mays had scored 20 points in victories against Southeastern Louisiana and North Carolina-Greensboro. Mays, who missed eight of his ten field goal attempts against Greensboro, was the only LSU player who did not shoot 50 percent from the field in that game. Mays was 6-of-11, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers, against Memphis. The 3 treys were one shy of Mays’ career-high. Mays had scored more than 19 points at the PMAC in only one other game in his career – 20 points against Samford last season.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
Field goal shooting: LSU 54% (34-of-63), Memphis 41% (26-of-64)
Rebounds: LSU 37, Memphis 32
Steals: LSU 10, Memphis 5
Blocked shots: LSU 6, Memphis 3
Points in the paint: LSU 48, Memphis 30
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
LSU
Skylar Mays: 19 points
Kavell-Bigby Williams: 14 points
Ja’vonte Smart: 13 points
Emmitt Williams: 11 points, 10 rebounds
Naz Reid: 11 points, 5 rebounds
Tremont Waters: 8 points, 8 assists
Darius Days: 7 points, 6 rebounds
MEMPHIS
Tyler Harris: 20 points
Jeremiah Martin: 15 points
Kyvon Davenport: 10 points
Mike Parks: 9 points, 6 rebounds
Isaiah Maurice: 4 points, 5 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 20 minutes. Reid played the fewest minutes of the starters with 20. Daryl Edwards came off the bench and was on the floor for 20 minutes. . .Bigby-Williams brought energy to LSU when he entered the game in the first half. Playing ten minutes in the first half, Bigby-Williams had eight points and four rebounds. Bigby-Williams’ 14 points were a career-high. He scored 11 points two seasons ago against Savannah State while he was at Oregon. Bigby-Williams, who was 7-of-7 from the field, had scored a total of nine points in the first two games. . .Williams registered his second double-double in three games. He had 12 points and 10 rebounds in the opener against Southeastern Louisiana. Williams was 4-of-6 from the field. . .Smart scored eight of LSU’s first 20 points. He made six of his 11 field goal attempts. Smart had a season-high three assists and three steals. . .Reid, who committed four fouls, was 5-of-9 from the field. . .Waters missed eight of his 11 field goal attempts, including all three of his 3-point shots. He did hand out eight assists and make three steals. After three games, Waters has 20 assists and 14 steals. . .Edwards had two points in his 20 minutes. Edwards, who was 0-for-3 from the field, and Waters were the only two players who did not make 50 percent of their field goal attempts. . .Days’ six rebounds were a season-high. He was 3-of-5 from the field. . .Marlon Taylor was scoreless in eight minutes. . .Smart was guilty of four of LSU’s 14 turnovers. Both Reid and Waters had three turnovers. . .Harris, who made six 3-pointers, did not score in the last 14½ minutes of the game. . .Outside of Harris, Memphis was 4-of-17 on shots behind the 3-point line. . .Davenport, who had 30 points and 10 rebounds in Memphis’ opener against Tennessee Tech, had only four rebounds to go along with his ten points. Davenport committed five of Memphis’ 14 turnovers. . .With the score tied at 36-36, LSU closed the first half on a 12-3 run. Mays scored eight of those 12 LSU points. . .Memphis pulled within seven points at 76-69 on a field goal by Alex Lomax with 3:32 left in the game. Memphis only made two field goals the rest of the way. . .LSU has scored at least 85 points in the first three games of the season for the first time in 19 years. LSU opened the 1994-95 campaign by beating Southeastern Louisiana 106-80, McNeese State 86-71 and George Mason 127-104. . .Memphis is 1-1. . .The paid attendance was 9,295. The actual crowd was about 5,700.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
Coach Will Wade’s comments: “This was a good win. Our post guys did a great job. Emmitt (Williams) and Darius (Days) got ten offensive rebounds between the two of them. Memphis has a good scheme. They come at you for 40 minutes with the pressure. Tremont did a nice job of bringing us home in those last six minutes. He made a lot of plays down the stretch for us. It was good for us to have balanced scoring. Skylar (Mays) really picked it up for us at the end of the first half. We really challenged him and Kavell (Bigby-Williams) the last couple of days. I was really proud of those guys for the way they responded. What we saw from Kavell is what he does.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play host to Louisiana Tech at the PMAC on Friday. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central. The Bulldogs (3-0) defeated Harding College 89-58 in Ruston on Tuesday night. The LSU-Louisiana Tech game will be available on the SEC Digital Network.
LSU Tigers Colosseum Banked 1/4-Zip Fleece Jacket – Heathered Gray
from: Fanatics