LAKE CHARLES, La. — LSU opened the Will Wade 2.0 era with a hard-fought exhibition victory over McNeese State on Wednesday night, relying on strong free-throw shooting and clutch baskets down the stretch to secure the win in Wade's highly anticipated return to his former program.
The exhibition marked Wade's first game back at McNeese since leaving the Cowboys to return to LSU in March. Wade spent two seasons in Lake Charles, leading McNeese to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances before beginning his second stint in Baton Rouge.
After shooting 4-for-13 from the free-throw line in the first half, the Tigers shot 18-for-21 in the second half, including going 7-for-8 in the final 1:06 of regulation. Wade said he told his team to relax and to “trust your routine on the free throws.”
“Look, our guys have been making 300 free throws a week on their own. We chart that,” Wade said. “And so we've been a good free-throw shooting team. We're all good shooters. We just—and they didn't go in. But our guys made them down the stretch, made them in the six-minute game when we needed it.”
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LSU guard Divine Ugochukwu scored a team-high 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting from the field and 2-for-6 from 3-point range. He also grabbed five rebounds.
Mo Dioubate also had a strong game, scoring 16 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field and 1-for-3 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed eight rebounds and recorded a block.
While freshman Michael Ruzic struggled offensively, shooting 3-for-9 from the field and 5-for-9 from the charity stripe, he recorded a double-double with 11 points and 16 rebounds. It was an impressive performance by the 18-year-old Croatian against a strong McNeese frontcourt.
“He's a warrior, man,” Wade said of Ruzic. “He works so hard. He's such a hard worker. He's so gifted. He's talented. He works hard. He's a great person. He's got great basketball IQ. He's going to be a phenomenal player for us.”
McNeese's Larry Johnson was a force offensively, scoring 22 points to go along with five rebounds and two assists.
The Tigers set the tone early with an opening 3-pointer, but McNeese answered quickly behind an alley-oop from Dellquan Warren to Jerrell Colbert and a 3-pointer by Choppa Moore to take an early 6-5 lead.
LSU responded with a 7-0 run, fueled by a Dioubate 3-pointer, a basket in the paint from Ruzic and a fast-break dunk from Ugochukwu to move ahead 10-7.
Both teams traded baskets throughout a tightly contested first half. McNeese built a 19-13 lead following a strong stretch from Christian Nitu, who threw down an alley-oop and added a 3-pointer. However, LSU erased the deficit as Ugochukwu converted a three-point play and followed with a 3-pointer to bring the Tigers back within one.
After Dioubate scored six consecutive points to put LSU ahead 26-24 and Donovan Dent added a driving layup, McNeese tied the game at 28 behind baskets from Jaylon Dean-Vines and Warren. Ruzic ultimately tied the score at 31 with a jumper with 37 seconds remaining in the opening half, sending the teams into the locker room deadlocked.
The second half picked up with the same intensity. Early dunks from Colbert and driving layups by Johnson kept McNeese in contention, but LSU capitalized on key opportunities at the free-throw line and points in the paint from Dioubate and Ugochukwu to keep the game close.
A 9-2 LSU run gave the Tigers a 53-47 lead with 7:28 remaining. McNeese mounted an immediate 8-0 response, using back-to-back 3-pointers from Warren and Alier Maluk alongside a pair of Johnson free throws to reclaim a 56-53 lead with just over three minutes to play.
Ugochukwu answered for LSU, knocking down a clutch 3-pointer to tie the game at 56.
From there, the Tigers sealed the game at the charity stripe, finishing 7-for-7 from the free-throw line in the closing minutes, with Dent converting all five of his attempts to secure the victory.
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