Something happened Thursday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center that didn’t occur in LSU’s first two basketball games under new men’s head coach Matt McMahon.

The Tigers inside game showed up in force.

Or rather, Derek Fountain bubbled over on both ends of the floor.

The 6-10 junior transfer forward from Mississippi State came off the bench and had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 7 steals in just more than 17 minutes to launch LSU to 91-62 pounding of the University of New Orleans.

The Tigers (3-0) were collectively outscored 56-46 in points in the paint in an 11-point win over Kansas City and a 9-point victory over Arkansas State. But Fountain’s play and LSU scoring 22 points off 23 UNO turnovers provided the Tigers with 22-point halftime lead (47-25) that they built to as many as 34 points in the second half.

“I felt like we were a more connected team tonight,” McMahon said. “I enjoyed watching our players celebrate each other’s success. That’s something we want to continue to build.”

In the first half, McMahon subbed in Fountain three times and each time he made something happen within a few possessions whether it was steals, grabbing offensive rebounds or scoring himself.

He punctuated his 13 points and 5 steals in his 10 first-half minutes by scoring 7 of LSU’s last 10 points with one of his thefts leading to an Adam Miller layup.

“I just talked to my coach (LSU assistant Ronnie Hamilton) before the game,” Fountain said, “and he told me to just go out there and not think, just do what I do in practice.”

Fountain, one of six signees that McMahon plucked out of the transfer portal, made the decision to leave Mississippi State after his playing time dropped from 19.7 minutes two seasons ago as a freshman to 8.4 minutes last year as a sophomore. He scored his career-high 20 points vs. LSU in the PMAC as a freshman.

“Derek’s a guy we had in our elite camp at Murray State when he was a ninth grader,” said McMahon, who was Murray’s head coach for seven seasons before being hired by LSU last March 21. “I’ve been very familiar with Derek over the years. I love his character and I love his versatility.

“When he was in the portal this past spring, we had the opportunity to bring him to Baton Rouge. That was a big pickup for us. We’re excited about the way he’s progressing from a consistency standpoint. It carried over to the game tonight.”

Fountain’s hustle vs. UNO seemed to be infectious to the rest of fellow reserves. LSU scored 51 bench points, considerably more than in the wins over Kansas City and Arkansas State combined.

Reserve junior guard Cam Hayes, a North Carolina State transfer, contributed 13 points in 16½ minutes for the Tigers. The only LSU starter scoring in double figures was Murray State transfer point guard Juice Hill, who had 12 points, 5 assists and 3 steals in 26 minutes.

“Like I said last time when we talked to the media, it’s going to take a few games for us to get it going,” Hill said. “Obviously, we came out tonight on the same page and played better as a whole group unit.”

As hot as Fountain proved to be – he made 4 of 5 field goals (including his only 3-point attempt) and 6 of 6 free throws – the Tigers’ Miller was as cold.

He entered the night averaging 22 points but missed 1 of 7 3-pointers and finished with 7 points. As it turned out, the Tigers didn’t need him.

For the game’s last 10 minutes as LSU advanced the lead past 30 points, McMahon sat all his starters. The Tigers finished shooting 51.7 percent (30 of 58) from the field including 42.9 percent (12 of 28) in 3-pointers.

UNO (1-2) was led by junior guard Khaleb Wilson-Rouse, a University of Pacific transfer, who scored a game-high 21 points.

The Tigers now hit the road for their first games away from the PMAC when they play three games in the Cayman Islands Classic starting next Monday with a 10 a.m. game vs. Illinois State.

“We had three really good days of practice this week,” McMahon said. “We’ve gotten better because we practiced better, more locked in, more engaged, more attention to detail.

“All those things are going to be really important to us as we move on through the season.”