Instant Analysis: LSU men’s basketball survives in overtime to close out Charleston Classic

The Tigers ended their stay in Charleston on a high note.

LSU’s men’s basketball team once again squandered a double-digit second-half lead in its final game at the Charleston Classic against Wake Forest on Sunday, but unlike in the opener against Dayton, the Tigers held on to win 86-80 in overtime.

LSU led by 10 at the break, but the Demon Deacons won the second half and erased that lead. Still, the Tigers had a chance at the end of regulation with a two-point lead with 24 seconds to play and [autotag]Jordan Wright[/autotag] shooting two.

Wright missed both, allowing Wake Forest to score the game-tying bucket the other way and send the game to overtime. The extra period was tight, but LSU pulled away to win in the final minute.

It wasn’t nearly as good an offensive game for the Tigers, who shot just 40.8%. They especially struggled in the second half, hitting just 7 of 27 shots, but they were 4 of 6 in the overtime period.

[autotag]Will Baker[/autotag] led the way once again with 23 points and eight rebounds while Wright (15 points) and [autotag]Jalen Reed[/autotag] (12) also scored in double figures. Wake outshot LSU, but it was also outrebounded and turned the ball over 18 times.

It was a nice way to close things out as the Tigers went 2-1 in Charleston and moved to 3-2 overall on the season. They’ll be back in action on Friday night when they host North Florida.

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