Not much has come easy for the Tigers to start the season, with most games against even mid-major opponents being a bit too close for comfort. Saturday night’s game against Winthrop — a solid mid-major team that, despite its current 5-6 record, was picked to finish second in the Big South — was another such example.
Despite trailing by one point entering halftime against the Eagles, LSU managed to pull away in the second half to earn an 89-81 win and move to 10-1 to begin the [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag] era.
Both team shot above 50% in this game, but after trading the lead back and forth for much of the first half, it looked like the Tigers were going to pull away in the second. They stretched their lead out to as much as 12 in the second frame, but Winthrop never went away, cutting the lead to four points with just 1:21 to play.
Still, thanks to an offensive onslaught from LSU, it wasn’t enough. The Tigers were unstoppable on offense in the final 20 minutes, shooting 67.7% for the period.
After exiting late in the win over NC Central with a cramp, Cam Hayes led the team in scoring with 25 points. [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag] (18 points) and [autotag]Adam Miller [/autotag](14) also scored in double figures. Still, this was about as vulnerable as the Tigers have looked defensively all year.
Winthrop’s Cory Hightower (25 points), Kelton Tarford (23) and Sin’Cere McMahon (18) were electric offensively, and the Eagles had 14 second-chance points. Unfortunately, the mistakes ultimately proved costly. Winthrop turned the ball over 12 times and LSU took advantage, scoring 21 points off those turnovers.
The Tigers have one-more tuneup against East Tennessee State on Wednesday night before SEC play begins against Arkansas on Dec. 28.
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