By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
This time, LSU did virtually everything right in both halves, never trailed and won its first Southeastern Conference game of the season, 78-70, over Missouri on Saturday afternoon at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, as it could have won two others.
The Tigers (13-5, 1-4 SEC) led by double digits throughout the game and finished strong after Missouri (13-5, 3-2 SEC) cut it to three points late and threatened to rally. Kentucky did that Wednesday, coming back from a 38-22 halftime deficit to win 75-74 at the buzzer, tearing LSU’s heart out.
LSU could easily be 3-2 as it lost its SEC opener, 75-72, at Texas A&M before the Kentucky debacle. The Tigers play at No. 19 Florida (12-5, 3-1 SEC) on Tuesday (6 p.m., ESPN2).
A buzzer beater would not happen this time as LSU hit its free throws down the stretch and defended at critical times. Forward Marquel Sutton led all scorers with 26 for the Tigers and had six rebounds. Guard/forward Max Mackinnon added 20 points.
LSU showed no signs of any emotional letdown from the outset following its stunning buzzer loss to Kentucky by breaking out to a 10-0 lead less than five minutes into the game on a Robert Miller III slam dunk at the 15:15 mark.
The Tigers stayed up by double digits through much of the first half and went up by 12 at 33-21 on a pair of Sutton free throws with 2:13 left and again by 35-23 on a Sutton layup at the 1:26 mark and for a third time at 37-25 with 54 seconds remaining on two Mackinnon free throws.
Sutton led all scorers with 19 in the first half on 5-of-8 shooting with a pair of three-pointers on four tries. Mackinnon added 10 with 2-of-4 shooting from three-point range. LSU shot 44 percent from long range in the opening period, hitting 11 of 25.
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