LSU (5-1) held off Nicholls State to get the 86-80 win Saturday afternoon inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
LSU got 66 points from the combination of freshman Cameron Thomas, who had a career-high 29 points, sophomore Trendon Watford, who included 22 of his own points on 9/12 shooting and junior Darius Days, who had 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists for the game in 25 minutes.
The threesome also combined for 20 rebounds and 10 assists.
“I thought Cam (Thomas) played great on the offensive end, he did what he does, we needed every point. I think he was 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. He had some good looks from three and I think he buried a couple of them. He did a good job attacking from two. I thought he was very good," said LSU coach Will Wade.
"I thought Trendon (Watford) did a great job. Six assists, three turnovers, he was able to take some of the game pressure off those guards. I think a couple of his turnovers were charges, too. He was able to take a couple of the game pressure off those guys so I was pleased with those guys. I was pleased with (Darius) Days. I thought he did some good things as well. We got the job done and we were able to knock a little bit of the rust off and we certainly need to be better on Tuesday.”
LSU was without point guard Javonte Smart who was in Covid-19 protocols. He is expected to be available for Tuesday's league opener against Texas A&M.
“Yeah, it was the ‘next man up’ mentality," said Watford. "We have two good point guards coming behind Javonte, Eric Gaines and Jalen Cook. They have been waiting on this moment and I think they did a solid job. For the rest of us, me, Cam (Thomas), (Darius) Days, we just did what we usually do. Coming out and being aggressive. Just playing our game and I think it showed.”
Nicholls (2-4) was led by Damien Sears who scored 20 points off the bench in 23 minutes on 8-of-9 shooting and 4-of-4 at the line. Sears also had nine rebounds, including six offensive boards. Jeremiah Buford had 14 points and Ty Gordon 12.
The Tigers will begin SEC play against Texas A&M on Tuesday, December 29 at 6 p.m. CT on SEC Network.
