LSU starts second half strong, puts away SMU

Marquel Sutton scored a season-best 23 points and added 12 rebounds as LSU used a hot start in the second half to down SMU 89-77 Saturday night in New Orleans.

The Compete 4 Cause Classic contest saw the Tigers, hailing from just down the road in Baton Rouge, shoot 62.1% from the field and 46.7% from 3-point range.

LSU (9-1) also got major contributions from Max MacKinnon, who matched a season high with 22 points, Dedan Thomas Jr. (16 points, 12 assists) and Pablo Tamba (14 points, 10 rebounds).

SMU (9-2) was led by a trio of 16-point scorers: Boopie Miller, Jaron Pierre Jr. and Jaden Toombs. Samet Yigitoglu added 10 points and 10 rebounds. The Mustangs shot 55.2 from the field and 45.5% from 3-point range.

MacKinnon scored five as the Tigers scored the first seven points of the second half to go up 54-44.

SMU briefly cut the deficit to six, but MacKinnon, who went 6 of 7 from 3-point range, sparked an immediate answer with a trey, and LSU went back up by 13 at 63-50.

Down 72-57 with 11:55 left, Miller hit the ground injured. He was helped from the court, unable to put weight on his right ankle, but he was able to return four minutes later.

Sutton got in on the long-range action with a 3-pointer with 5:57 to go. He also finished 6 of 6 from the line.

Neither team could build a lead larger than four over the game's first 10 minutes, but LSU began to build an advantage shortly thereafter. The Tigers went on an 11-2 run capped by a Pablo Tamba layup off a steal to go up 39-27 with 6:48 to play in the half.

SMU answered with an 11-2 run of its own. Toombs tipped in a miss with 1:10 left in the half to cut the deficit to 43-41.

The Tigers rallied with two buckets to lead 47-44 at the half.

Sutton led all scorers with 16 first-half points, while MacKinnon rang up 11 on 3-of-4 shooting from deep.

Miller had 13, Pierre scored 11 and Toombs added 10 for SMU.

--Field Level Media