ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cameron Thomas scored 27 points in his collegiate debut, Darius Days set a career high with 24 points and LSU opened its season with a 94-81 victory over SIU Edwardsville on Thursday night.
LSU jumped out to a 26-4 lead as SIUE only made two field goals in the opening 11 minutes. The Cougars trailed by 15 points at the break but opened the second half with a 23-10 run, getting 10 points from Mike Adewunmi, to pull within 59-57.
Days converted two three-point plays during a 16-3 run to put LSU up 83-68 with 5:11 remaining, and the Tigers led by double figures the rest of the way.
Trendon Watford had 13 points, seven rebounds and nine assists for LSU, and Javonte Smart had 10 points with five assists. Thomas and Days each made four 3-pointers as LSU went 12 for 26. Days was 9 of 11 from the field and the Tigers shot 51.7% overall.
Adewunmi finished with 23 points for SIUE (0-2), which is led by first-year coach Brian Barone. Cam Williams added 14 points and UConn transfer Sidney Wilson, who was the only SIUE player to reach double-digit scoring on in Wednesday’s 89-52 loss to Saint Louis, was held scoreless.
The Tigers were scheduled to play in the Golden Window Classic in Lincoln, Nebraska but Saint Louis withdrew and created the Billiken Classic. Saint Louis and LSU will meet on Saturday without fans.
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