Freshman forward Naz Reid was one of five LSU starters in double digits as the No.13 Tigers completed it’s season sweep of Texas A&M Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, 66-55.
The Aggies fall to 12-15 and 5-10 in SEC play while the Tigers climb to 23-5 and 13-2 in conference, winning 16 of their last 18 contests.
The Tigers opened the game with four consecutive dunks from forward Kavell Bigby-Williams, guard Marlon Taylor and forward Naz Reid to take an early 8-2 lead. By the 10:24 mark in the first half, LSU had already captured it’s first double-digit lead of the game.
LSU showed no signs of stopping during the first period, as the Tigers went on a 12-0 scoring run in three and a half minutes to make it 34-13 with only 3:34 left in the half. A&M sophomore guards TJ Starks and Jay Jay Chandler would cut the deficit to 16 by halftime to make it 38-20.
A&M saw a better start in the second half as both teams exchanged baskets until the Aggies went on a brief scoring run to cut the LSU lead to 12 with 14 minutes to go in the contest. However, it would not be enough as the Tigers would maintain a double-digit lead for the majority of the period.
The Aggies found their smallest deficit in the half after a quick mid-range jumper from junior guard Wendell Mitchell and a three-pointer from Chandler with just under three minutes left to make it a nine point game. A&M never saw a lead against the Tigers.
Neither team had a successful shooting night, with the Aggies scoring only 32 percent from the field and the Tigers completing only 35 percent of their shots. Additionally, both teams shot 4-22 and 2-19 from deep, respectively.
Tigers freshman forward Naz Reid recorded a double-double for LSU with 18 points and 11 rebounds after recording only one point in his last game against then-No.5 Tennessee on Saturday. LSU was without its starting sophomore guard and leading scorer Tremont Waters who had missed his second straight game with an illness.
“Shots were just falling tonight that weren’t before,” Reid said. “Fortunately my teammates would give me the ball and I was able to score the ball. Saturday shots weren’t falling but you gotta do other things than just score.”
After leading the last three games in scoring, A&M forward Savion Flagg struggled with three points and five rebounds, shooting 1-of-9 from the floor. Mitchell led the team in scoring for the ninth time this season with 14 points.
A&M scrambled as a team to take care of the ball throughout the game with 12 turnovers, which led LSU to score 17 points off of the Aggies’ lost possessions.
The Aggies face off against Vanderbilt at Reed Arena on Saturday, March 2. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m. and will be televised on SEC Network.