LSU Basketball Beats Ole Miss 73-63 to Stay Undefeated in SEC Play

In an electric atmosphere honoring one of the all time collegiate greats, LSU followed a very similar blueprint to it's recent success as the Tigers utilized the free throw line and pounded the paint en route to a 73-63 win over Ole Miss.

The win extends LSU's (17-4, 8-0) streak to 10 games and marks the first time since the 1980-81 season that the team has started SEC play 8-0.

The game couldn't have started any better for LSU as a 25-2 run in the first half put the Tigers up by as many as 24 points thanks to some elite post defense from Emmitt Williams and the team's ability to get to the free throw line.

In it's last two games, LSU had been able to jump out on its opponent by getting to the free throw line early and often and that trend didn't change against the Rebels. After going 17-of-18 in the first half against Alabama, the Tigers went 15-for-21 against Ole Miss and took a 40-20 lead into the break.

Williams, while not stuffing the stat sheet Saturday, was an absolute monster in the paint on defense, blocking four Ole Miss shots and making a countless number of shots difficult on the Rebel offense. As a result, Ole Miss shot 36% percent from the field and settled for 22 three-pointers, knocking down just six from long distance.

“It is a tough thing to finish through contact,” freshman Trendon Watford said. “You have me, Emmitt (Williams) and (Darius) Days down there, so it is hard to finish through us.”

One of the goals coming into Saturday's second matchup with the Rebels was to not let guard Breein Tyree be the player that killed the Tigers. Tyree dropped a career-high 36 points just two weeks ago against LSU in the first meeting but the Tigers made sure Tyree didn't have a repeat performance.

Tyree went scoreless in the first half as LSU went on its massive scoring run and finished with just nine points total. Instead it was guard Devontae Shuler who scored the first nine points for an Ole Miss offense that struggled to get anyone else going.

Shuler finished the game with 28 points as Ole Miss attempted to get back in the game by scoring the last four points of the first half and followed that up by dropping 12 straight to kickoff the second half.

All of the sudden a once 40-16 LSU lead had been cut to single digits much to the chagrin of the Tiger crowd and LSU needing someone to step up.

Wade said after the game the sluggish second half start was different from previous outings as the Tigers weren’t settling for threes, they just weren’t converting in the paint.

“We missed a few layups at the beginning. This was different,” Wade said. “The Alabama game, we shot a bunch of threes to start the second half. This game we still shot a bunch of shots inside. We missed some shots inside. Our ball-screen coverage – we let them get a little more comfortable where they had some cleaner looks to start the second half. I think it was a combination of both.”

With Skylar Mays in foul trouble the whole afternoon, it turned out to be two someones that rose to the challenge.

It was the second half play of Javonte Smart and Marlon Taylor that ultimately stopped the bleeding and helped LSU regain control of the game. The two combined for 25 of the 32 second half points for LSU including a 18-7 run they went on by themselves.

“Today was just my day. Each game is someone’s night,” Taylor said. “We prepared the right way. We live for games like this.”

Smart finished with 19 points and four assists while Taylor added 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Up next for the Tigers is a road outing at Vanderbilt, who is in the midst of a nasty conference losing streak on Wednesday. Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m. and can be viewed on SEC Network.