LSU men’s basketball plays Kansas State on the road | LSU

Cam Carter stroked the floor that used to be his home.

After a Kansas State player threw a pass to an unsuspecting teammate, Carter sprinted with his point guard Jordan Sears, who made the steal. Sears lobbed an easy alley-oop to his 6-foot-3 teammate, who threw down a two-handed dunk, smiling as he trotted back on defense with just under two minutes left in the first half.

This was the level of fun the Tigers had in their 76-65 win over Kansas State. They improve to 3-0 after winning their first road contest of the year as well as their first win over a team in a power conference. Last season, LSU lost 75-60 to the Wildcats.

LSU was led by Carter, who had a team-high 20 points, shot 6 of 10 from the field and 3 of 6 from beyond the arc. Sears had 13 points, six rebounds and five assists. Vyctorius Miller had the best game of his young freshman career with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field.

The Tigers’ defensive showing was by far their best of the year, holding the Wildcats to 38% field goal shooting. LSU’s dominance on the glass was also more than inspiring as it held 43 rebounds to its opponents 25.

LSU had a 12-point lead at halftime. The first 20 minutes were the most impressive of the early season. Their defense was disruptive, locking down the paint and sparking quick transition scores (10 points off turnovers). The ball bounced as each player had an unselfish style of play. Tigers rebounding was impressive, outscoring the Wildcats 21-12 at halftime.

LSU also finished the break shooting 52% from the field compared to Kansas State’s 36%. Kansas State’s David N’Guessan and Dug McDaniel combined for 20 of their team’s 26 points

The LSU offense early on was led by its bench unit, which had 17 points in the first half. The effectiveness of the role players started with Daimion Collins, whose energy from the bench was high immediately. He had six of the team’s first 13 points. .

On his first offensive possession, he followed up a missed Dji Bailey layup with a two-handed putback dunk. Not long after, he made a short-range shot off the glass from the center of the paint and then got a slap shot after rolling after setting a screen. Collins had 12 points, his career-high in his career at LSU.

Carter spent two seasons with the Wildcats and averaged 14.6 points per game last season. fight for them. Before his comeback was successful, he was shy offensively at first.

The 6-foot-3 guard didn’t attempt a shot until the 10:32 mark of the first half. Carter’s first made field goal was a midrange bucket with 9:35 left in the first half. On the following possession, he made a catch-and-shoot 3-pointer off an offensive rebound.

Kansas State went on a 6-0 run to cut its deficit to 10 with 9:14 left in the game. LSU came back from a timeout and neutralized the rush of its opponent.

LSU’s next contest will be against Charleston Southern at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday at