After winning in double overtime versus UCF and defeating Northwestern State, the LSU men’s basketball team welcomed Florida State into the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday evening for the SEC/ACC Challenge. Cam Carter and Jordan Sears were major contributors as the Tigers took down the Seminoles 85-75 to improve to 7-1 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Jalen Reed found Cam Carter for the open three-pointer on the game’s first possession. Reed came out of the game a minute later with an apparent knee injury after making a contested layup.
Malique Ewin attacked LSU’s defense in the paint early on, scoring on a turnaround jumper and an and-one layup to put Florida State up 7-5 in the first three minutes. The Tigers responded by going on a 10-2 run. Carter converted on the up-and-under and-one layup, then found Jordan Sears open for the corner three-ball.
Neither team made a basket over the next three minutes. The Seminoles knocked down four free throws with three coming off a foul on Jamir Watkins from Vyctorius Miller. In that span, the Tigers missed seven shots, three of which came on the same possession as Carter and Damian Collins got the offensive rebounds.
Ewin and Corey Chest ended their team’s scoring droughts by getting into the paint with Chest slamming one home off the Dji Bailey pass. After that, each team traded baskets until the 7:07 mark of the first half as Bailey’s layup put the Tiger up 23-21.
Florida State went on a 12-3 run late in the half. Ewin scored the first basket while Chandler Jackson knocked down back-to-back shots, including a three. Sears interrupted the run with a left-wing three but Taylor Bol answered with a three-ball to put the Seminoles up by seven.
Miller made his first shot late with a reverse layup. Daquan Davis and Carter traded free throws and LSU went into the half down 35-32.
LSU came out firing to begin the second half, going on an 8-0 run and force Florida State to burn a timeout early. Carter opened things up with a wing-three and Miller started to get into rhythm with a step-back three to give the Tigers the lead before Carter hit the midrange shot to put Matt McMahon’s group up by five heading into a TV timeout less than two minutes in.
Sears and Miller hit back-to-back from behind the arc but the Seminoles caught up quickly. Jackson scored from the left elbow and Jerry Deng hit a three right after Miller’s while Ewin cut it to a four-point game at the 13:13 mark of the second half. LSU led 49-45.
Sears started to take over for the Tigers, setting the pace and scoring 11 of LSU’s next 15 points over five minutes. A pair of his shots were driven to the paint, another was a three-pointer, and he knocked down a couple from the charity stripe.
Florida State did not go away despite the scoring spurt from Sears. Justin Thomas made the and-one layup while Jamir Watkins scored three times and Deng had the easy dunk. Bailey’s layup however put the Tigers up 66-56 with 6:38 remaining.
Miller scored from behind the arc to maintain their 10-point cushion and that shot forced a timeout by the Seminoles.
Deng made two more three-pointers to cut it to within six at the 2:27 mark. Chest got the assist on a Collins layup and Carter stole the basketball from Watkins and threw down the emphatic dunk seconds later. Carter responded with another one-hand slam following a timeout.
Davis hit one last three but it was nowhere near enough as LSU walked away the 85-75 winner over Florida State in the SEC/ACC challenge presented by Continental Tire. The win on Tuesday improved the Tigers’ record to 7-1.
BIG NUMBER: 53
The Tiger offense worked out the kinks in the locker room and turned up in the final 20 minutes, scoring 53 second-half points compared to Florida State’s 40. As a defense, LSU also recorded nine steals and blocked seven shots.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Cam Carter
Cam Carter was LSU’s big scorer, putting up a game-high 26 points. The senior guard was 8-15 from the floor, recorded eight rebounds, and had two steals as the Tigers came out on top 85-75.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers (7-1) will return to hardwood action on Sunday, December 8th when they host the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles. Tipoff inside Pete Maravich Assembly Center is set for 2:00 and can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.
