Tiger Rag News Services
NICEVILLE, Florida – The LSU men’s basketball team opened a season at 6-0 for the first time since the 2021-22 season with a 71-62 victory over Drake in the Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville, Florida, on Friday night.
The Tigers advance to the championship game of the tournament against DePaul (5-2) on Saturday (6 p.m., CBS Sports Network). DePaul defeated Georgia Tech, 75-61, Friday to advance.
Point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. led LSU with 18 points and five assists, and forward Michael Nwoko added 14 with eight rebounds. Guard Max Mackinnon scored 11 points with four assists.
LSU led through most of the game, keeping Drake (4-3) at arm’s length. The Tigers were up 38-24 at the half before Drake cut it to 66-60 with 52 seconds left, but LSU went on a 5-2 mini-run for the final.
“Just couldn’t put them away, and I thought we had some opportunities there,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “We just couldn’t finish them, but it was good for us. We played in five games that weren’t close, so to get into some of those situations, we can learn and get better.”
Jalen Quinn scored 20 to lead Drake.
The Tigers continue on the road after Saturday at the Atlantic Coast Conference/Southeastern Conference Challenge at Boston College (4-4) before playing at Texas Tech (5-2) in the Coast To Coast Challenge on Sunday, Dec. 7, in a 2 p.m. game on ESPN2.
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