On the weekend before Mardi Gras, the LSU Tigers gave the crowd in Baton Rouge a lot to celebrate in a 75-55 win over Missouri.
Scattered, smothered, and covered — no, not Waffle House. I am talking about the LSU defense in the first half.
The LSU Tigers held a 30-24 lead at halftime thanks to Will Wade’s full-court press. Missouri only shot 29% from the field and had 11 turnovers. There was a stretch of seven minutes where Missouri did not even make a shot.
LSU was able to extend its lead to 26-16 after going on a 6-0 run over a two-minute stretch, but after that, LSU went cold. The Tigers only hit one of their final seven shots to end the half and didn’t score for the last 2:04.
20-point dub for win No. 20#BootUp pic.twitter.com/TACH9BIsWv
— LSU Basketball (@LSUBasketball) February 27, 2022
Darius Days and Brandon Murray came out of the locker on fire as LSU went on a 15-0 run to start the second half and the six-point halftime lead quickly ballooned to a 21-point lead before Missouri finally got on the scoreboard.
During that stretch, LSU was 5 for 5 from the field. After LSU increased its lead to 21, the Tigers never looked back. The closest Missouri got to a comeback was a 16 point deficit. LSU finished the game shooting 51% from the field, 35% from three-point range, and 83% from the charity stripe.
The Tigers defense forced 19 Missouri turnovers, which translated to 25 points for LSU.
Tari Eason led LSU in scoring with 18 points on the night, nine of those coming from the free-throw line, where he went 9 for 9. Brandon Murray, Xavier Pinson and Darius Days all finished with double-digits in the scoring column, as well.
With the win, LSU moves to 20-9 on the season and 8-8 in conference play with only two games remaining. LSU will travel to play a red-hot Arkansas Razorbacks team next Wednesday with tip-off at 8 p.m. CST.
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