TIGER RAG NEWS SERVICES
LSU completed its third tuneup of the early season in style with a 90-50 win over Louisiana Tech on Monday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center before traveling to face No. 14 Gonzaga on Saturday in Spokane, Washington.
And Will Wade became the first coach in LSU history to win three consecutive games by 40 points or more. The Tigers (3-0) opened the season with a 100-57 win over LSU-New Orleans last Tuesday before beating Texas Southern, 92-51, on Friday.
LSU showed significant depth in the process by getting 40 points off the bench with 18 from 7-foot center Michael Ruzic and 16 from guard Abdi Bashir Jr. Ruzic hit 7 of 9 shots from the field with one three-pointer and added five rebounds, three assists, a blocked shot and a steal in 20 minutes. Bashir hit 4 of 11 shots from three-point range in 22 minutes and had two assists. Guard Divine Ugochukwu added six points off the bench in 23 minutes.
Forward Mo Dioubate led the starters with 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting inside and grabbed six rebounds with three assists and a blocked shot. Point guard Donovan Dent added 12 points and five assists with five steals and two blocked shots.
LSU shot 56.4 percent from the floor (31-of-55) and recorded 21 assists, marking its third consecutive game shooting better than 50 percent from the field. The Tigers forced 23 turnovers from Tech and converted those into 38 points while also getting 16 steals.
Jaylen Fenner led Louisiana Tech (2-1) with 12 points.
LSU opened the game with a 16-2 run and led by 47-20 at halftime. The Tigers scored the first 11 points of the second half and soon stretched their lead to 82-29 after consecutive threes by Bashir. LSU led by as many as 55 points.
Gonzaga has been to all 27 NCAA Tournaments held since 1999, including 26 under coacn Mark Few, who started in the 1999-2000 season. Gonzaga finished as national champion runner-up in 2017 and ’21 and has had three Elite Eight finishes in 2015, ’19 and ’23.
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