By GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor
LSU looked primed for the beginning of Southeastern Conference play on Monday night as the Tigers blew out Southern Mississippi, 90-62, and were never seriously challenged at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
The Tigers (12-1) open SEC play at Texas A&M (10-3) on Saturday (3 p.m., ESPNU). LSU enters league play with one loss or fewer for just the eighth time since the 1999-2000 season.
Junior center Mike Nwoko powered the Tigers inside with 22 points on 10-of-13 shooting and blocked five shots while grabbing six rebounds.
“With his rim pressure and blocking five shots, that was by far his best game of the year,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said of Nwoko. “We were able to live in the paint, and we had only six turnovers.”
The Tigers scored 42 points in the paint.
LSU’s inside-out game dominated as point guard Dedan Thomas Jr. also scored 22 on 8-of-11 shooting and ran the offense superbly with 12 assists. He added 2-of-2 shooting from three-point range. Wing Max Mackinnon added 15 points with two blocked shots.
“You see how effective D.J. is in the open floor,” McMahon said of Thomas. “He has such a great feel of the game and vision against different coverages. He’s just so smart. Just thought he was fantastic.”
The Tigers opened a 19-7 lead at the 13:35 mark of the first half on a 27-foot trey by Mackinnon. He hit another 27 footer less than a minute later for a 22-9 advantage. His third three-pointer of the first half was from 28 feet and gave the Tigers their largest lead of the half by 17 at 33-16 off a Thomas assist with 6:19 to go before halftime.
Southern Mississippi (7-7) closed to within 41-30 at the half, but never threatened in the second half. A layup by forward Pablo Tamba gave the Tigers their biggest lead up to that point by 21 at 73-52. A Thomas layup moments later made it 79-56.
LSU continued to pour it on.
Tylik Weeks led USM with 12 points, but he missed seven of 10 shots as Tamba blanketed him throughout the game. Tamba had a game-high 15 rebounds and scored nine points.
“Pablo’s defense was a huge key to the game,” McMahon said.
Forward Marquel Sutton added 11 rebounds and nine points.
“I was really pleased with the consistent, 40-minute effort,” McMahon said. “We were able to dictate shot selection. We had better communication and played more physically like we’ll have to do in the SEC, which is the most physical league in America.”
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