How It Happened: DJ Thomas Lifts LSU Basketball Past Southern Miss in 90-62 Win

BATON ROUGE – LSU’s starting lineup combined for 77 points, 34 rebounds, 16 assists and nine blocks as the Tigers finished non-conference play with a flourish in a 90-62 win over Southern Mississippi Monday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The Tigers for the eighth time since the start of the 1999-2000 season, finished with no more than one non-conference loss in November and December and enter Southeastern Conference play on Saturday at 12-1. Southern Miss falls to 7-7.

DJ Thomas Jr., had 22 points on 8-of-11 shooting overall, including 2-of-2 from distance and 4-of-4 from the free throw line to go with a career high equaling 12 assists (second time this year) for the Tigers. Mike Nwoko had 22 points and six rebounds, making 10-of-13 from the floor. He also had a career high five blocks in the game and six rebounds.

Max Mackinnon was the other Tiger in double figures with 15 points, with three treys.

While Marquel Sutton and Pablo Tamba both finished with nine points each and pulled both pulled down double figure rebounds with Tamba grabbing 15 and Sutton 11.

The Tigers posted 42 points in the paint and had a 14-7 advantage in second half points. LSU out rebounded the Golden Eagles, 43-39. LSU had 19 assists on 32 made baskets and posted just six turnovers in the contest with a season high team total of 11 blocks.

The Tigers shot 51.6 percent for the game (32-of-62), making 8-of-26 from distance and 18-of-25 from the free throw line. LSU held Southern Miss to just 30.6 percent (19-of-62) with just three makes from distance and 21-of-29 from the free throw line.

LSU, which led for 38 minutes of the contest, was behind just 2-0 off the opening jump ball and an LSU turnover before Tamba hit a three to give LSU the lead for good at 3-2 with 18:13 to go in the first half. The Tigers quickly raced out to a double figure lead on a Mackinnon three-pointer that gave LSU a 19-7 advantage.

Southern Miss cut the margin to eight twice in the first half, but the Tigers went to the dressing room, up 11, 41-30, at halftime.

LSU’s biggest lead in the second half, when LSU made 17-of-30 from the field, came with 1:17 to play when the Tigers led by 29 points.

Southern Miss was led by Tylik Weeks, who played 27 minutes after getting four first half fouls, with 12 points and Tegra Izay added 11.

The Tigers will be off on Tuesday and will begin practicing for the SEC opener on Wednesday. League play opens with seven games on Saturday as LSU will be at Bryant-College Station for a 3 p.m. game at Reed Arena against Texas A&M.

LSU’s home SEC opener is set for Tuesday, Jan. 6, at 6 p.m. against South Carolina.

LSU vs Southern Miss
December 29, 2025
Post-game quotes
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon

Opening Statement…
“As we wrap 2025, I want to acknowledge several members of our program who earned their college degrees. Rashad King, Pablo Tamba, Marquel Sutton, Jaden Bobbett and PJ Carter. Then we had two managers – Peyton Bourgeois and Kobe Haynes. I’m really proud of those guys and wanted all seven of them to earn their college degrees; five of them are working on another degree and one of them is working on his third degree.

"As for the game – I’m a big believer in that you’re going to play the way you practice. I thought our guys came back from Christmas break hungry. There was some disappointment and some things that happened on the defensive side of the ball in our last game before the break and our guys did a good job of taking that challenge tonight to hold Southern Miss to 30% from the floor and 20% from three.

"We played with great unselfishness on offense with 19 assists and only six turnovers. It was another balanced attack from an offensive standpoint. Great win and a great way to wrap up 2025. Now we’re excited for the opportunities ahead as we start SEC play this weekend.”

On having 19 team assists on 32 shots made tonight…
“It was key for us tonight. But we know that as we go to Texas A&M on Saturday, Coach (Bucky) McMillan is always going to have a top 5 or top 10 team in America in forcing turnovers, so it’s going to be a critical stat again on Friday. Southern Miss gave us a good test from the standpoint of mixing the defenses; you saw them play man (coverage), mix their ball screen coverage, 1-3-1, 2-3, and press coverages.

"I thought DJ (LSU Guard Dedan Thomas Jr.) really did a great job diagnosing what was happening on the floor. When we were able to get stops, we were able to get out in transition, and I think that’s where we can really flourish from an efficiency standpoint.

"All in all, ball security was really good. We gave up a few too many second shots; we need to clean that up. Overall, we’re pleased with the team effort.”

On Mike Nwoko’s career-high five blocks tonight…
“Probably my favorite stat of the game. He’s been so good offensively since he got here and he keeps getting better every time out. You see the connection that he and DJ have on the different ball screen coverages and roll opportunities.

"He’s scoring it so efficiently, but we’ve really challenged him to provide that rim presence for us. I’m sure this was a season-high in blocks for us tonight, but it all started with Mike. He was aggressive coming over and fixing some things that went wrong for us on the defensive end. I thought he was fantastic on both ends of the court, and that’s what we’re going to need as we go into SEC play.”

Junior Guard Dedan Thomas Jr.
On the dominant defensive performance as a team…
“The coaches were really on us, but credit to them (Southern Mississippi) though, they made some really big shots and they really pushed us so just this whole week after the Christmas break, we just knew that we definitely had to prove that we’re actually a really good defensive team if we just play up to our potential, so I feel like we played a lot better guarding the three especially.”

On taking advantages of his three-point shooting opportunities…
“I know how hard I work. I’m still very confident in my ability to shoot the three ball and (LSU Forward) Mike (Nwoko) even gets mad at me when I don’t shoot it. I mean I feel like I put in a lot of work in my three-point shot. The coaches are confident in me and my teammates are confident in me so I feel like I just put too much work in not to shoot threes more so I’m going to keep shooting them, just staying confident in my shot so it’s going to fall.”

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