With the start of SEC play 11 days away, LSU first-year head coach Matt McMahon has been searching for scoring help for forward KJ Williams.

In the last two games, McMahon has discovered the Fountain of Youth.

Mississippi State transfer forward Derrick Fountain’s season-high 17 points and 14 rebounds pushed the 9-1 Tigers past pesky North Carolina Central 67-57 Tuesday night in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

“I'm really excited about the progress Derrick's made, this is no accident the way he's played these last couple of games,” McMahon said of Fountain, who got his first start of the season last Saturday in LSU’s 72-70 win over Wake Forest. “This is how he's played every day in practice for about a month now.

"He's really established his habits being the hardest worker on the floor, bringing great energy and he's a connector of people. And that's a very undervalued trait when you're trying to build a program from scratch. His communication and leadership have been terrific.”

Williams, the SEC’s second-leading scorer and reigning SEC Player of the Week coming of a 35-point performance vs. Wake Forest, had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

Also, North Carolina State transfer guard Cam Hayes, who averaged 7 points off the bench in LSU’s first eight games, scored a season-high 14 points in his first start.

“I guess probably a month ago he was the 11th or 12 man in the rotation,” McMahon said of Hayes, who suffered a cramp in the final 3 minutes after trying to block a N.C. Central shot and had to be helped off the floor. “He has come to work. He's improved. He's been very coachable. He's had consistent practice performances. And now it's carried over to the games and he's been incredibly efficient. We must have him on the floor.”

In the last two games, Fountain and Hayes have combined to contribute 27.5 points and 15.5 rebounds while shooting 61.8 percent (21 of 34) from the field.

LSU needed a trio of standouts against the persistent Eagles (5-6), who refused to fold and trailed by just 4 points with 11:07 left before a Hayes 3-pointer restarted the Tigers’ engines.

LSU’s rebounding dominance – it blasted N.C. Central 45-31 on the boards and scored 18 points off 15 offensive retrieves – helped the Tigers through some tight moments.

“We only gave up four offensive rebounds (to N.C, Central) coming off Saturday's game (vs. Wake Forest) where over the final 24 minutes of play we only gave up one offensive rebound,” McMahon said. “So, credit to our players. That's obviously been an area of emphasis for us to improve.”

The only glaring deficiency for the Tigers in Tuesday’s win was subpar offense from starting guards Juice Hill and Adam Miller.

Hill and Miller combined for just 8 points, hitting 3 of 21 shots including 1 of 13 3-pointers. Miller, who scored 1 point after missing all 10 of his field goal attempts (0 of 8 3-pointers) is now 1 of 21 from the field in his last two games, including 1 of 14 3’s. He has missed 13 consecutive 3-pointers.

Fortunately, Hayes picked up Miller’s scoring slack and Fountain’s continued improvement was a boost.

It took LSU almost 18 minutes to build its first double digit lead against the Eagles, finally leading 40-26 at halftime. There were 10 lead changes, and the Tigers just couldn’t pull away early. LSU missed its first 10 3-pointers and Williams was held scoreless in the game’s 11½ minutes.

Yet, LSU was kept afloat offensively by the relentless Fountain. His energy inside produced 15 points – 11 in the first 6:44 – as well as 8 rebounds including 4 offensive.

Williams’ offense kicked in gear. He scored all 14 of his first-half points in the last 8½ minutes, including 10 in LSU’s closing 16-4 run in the last 6:24 of the half.

The Tigers made their last 5 of 6 field goals, including 3-pointers by Hayes and Williams while NCU missed its last 7 of 8 shots.

“We did not close the half like we would like to,” N.C. Central coach LeVelle Moton said. “(LSU’s) Front court really dominated in the first half. They (Williams and Fountain) are great players. I thought we did a great job defending their guards. Cam Hayes came in and made some huge shots.”

The Tigers return to action at home Saturday at 6 p.m. vs. Winthrop (5-6). The Eagles, winners of the Big South Conference regular season and tournament championships each in 2020 and 2021, last played in the NCAA tourney in 2021.

In the last three seasons, Winthrop has won 48 of 54 Big South regular season games.