Antonio Blakeney and Brandon Sampson combined for ten points in the final 3½ minutes as LSU held off North Florida 78-70 in a non-conference game Friday night at the PMAC.
TURNING POINT OF GAME
The Ospreys, who trailed by 12 points after a field goal by Aaron Epps with 6:29 remaining in the game, made one last run at the Tigers. A field goal by Romelo Banks capped a 9-1 run which left North Florida behind 67-63. Blakeney hit a jumper following a Chris Davenport turnover to stop the Ospreys spurt. LSU got a stop on North Florida’s next possession and Sampson knocked down a jumper to put the Tigers ahead 71-63 with 2:50 to play.
KEY STRETCH OF GAME
For the first time this season, LSU got tested with a close game down the stretch. Holding a four-point lead, the Tigers outscored North Florida 11-7 over the last 3½ minutes. Blakeney and Sampson scored all but one of LSU’s final 11 points. The Tigers held the Ospreys to one field goal – a 3-pointer by Davenport – in this span. North Florida missed five of its last six field goal attempts and committed two turnovers.
LSU’S PLAYER OF THE GAME
Blakeney was quiet for most of the night, but he stepped up when the Tigers needed some big baskets down the stretch. With LSU’s lead at four points (67-63), Blakeney sank a jumper. With the Tigers ahead 71-66, Blakeney made another jump shot. In the final minute, Blakeney connected on a pair of foul shots to give LSU a 77-70 advantage. Blakeney was 8-of-18 from the field and hit those two big shots in the last few minutes.
KEY TEAM STATISTICS
LSU shot below 50 percent from the field for the first time this season. The Tigers made 47 percent (29-of-62) of their field goal attempts. North Florida made 44 percent of its field goal attempts (25-of-57) – the first team to shoot higher than 40 percent against LSU this year. . .Both teams were horrible at the foul line. The Ospreys made 46 percent of their free throw attempts (13-of-28), while the Tigers connected on 57 percent of their charity tosses (13-of-23). . .LSU was outrebounded 44-34. . .The Tigers committed 14 turnovers, but North Florida turned the ball over 20 times. LSU was credited with eight steals.
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
LSU
Antonio Blakeney: 20 points
Duop Reath: 17 points
Brandon Sampson: 16 points
Aaron Epps: 14 points, 6 rebounds
Jalyn Patterson: 1 point, 8 assists
North Florida
Chris Davenport: 16 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
Romelo Banks: 13 points, 9 rebounds
Dallas Moore: 13 points, 7 rebounds
Aaron Bodager: 13 points, 6 rebounds
NOTES
LSU’s starting lineup consisted of Epps and Reath in the post, Blakeney and Sampson on the wings and Skylar Mays at point guard. Two scholarship players were not in uniform – Branden Jenkins and Craig Victor. . .Coach Johnny Jones went with Patterson instead of Mays at point guard for most of the game. Patterson’s eight assists were a career-high. He committed just two turnovers in 27 minutes. . .Reath and Epps, the Tigers’ two starting post players, were a combined 12-of-22 from the field. Reath was 7-of-12 and Epps was 5-of-10. Reath made two 3-pointers, while Epps made one trey. . .Sampson scored ten straight points early in the second half. LSU trailed North Florida 45-42 when Sampson began his two-minute hot streak. By the end of this stretch, the Tigers had a 52-49 advantage. Sampson was 5-of-9 from the field, including 2-of-3 on 3-point shots, for the game. . .Elbert Robinson contributed five points and four rebounds in ten minutes. . .It was a rough night for both Mays and Wayde Sims. Mays had five points, three assists and three turnovers in 16 minutes. Sims played 12 minutes and did not score. . .LSU had a nine-point lead late in the first half cut to one point by the break. . .LSU has won its first three games of the year for the third time in Jones’ five seasons as coach. . .The Tigers have not allowed more than 70 points in each of the first three games. The last time LSU had such a defensive stretch came in the first three games of last season. . .North Florida is 1-3 with all of its losses to power conference teams. The Ospreys had been beaten by Auburn and Miami. . .The paid attendance was 6,953. The actual crowd was slightly less than 4,000.
FROM THE LOCKER ROOM
Coach Johnny Jones’ comments: “We played a team tonight that was good defensively and gave us a bunch of different looks. We allowed North Florida to become a confident team in the first half. It was a grind game for us in the second half. Our guys grinded it defensively and executed offensively. Our guys closed out the game well with plays made by Antonio Blakeney and several other guys. We have guys on the wing with Antonio and Brandon Sampson who are prolific scorers. They can go off at any time. Those two guys executed well when they got their hands on the ball.”
UP NEXT
LSU will play Wichita State in an opening-round game of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Island, Bahamas on Wednesday. Tipoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. Central. The Shockers (3-0) will play host to Maryland-Eastern Shore on Sunday afternoon. The LSU-Wichita State game will be televised on ESPN2.
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