BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Charles Manning scored a season-high 16 points as LSU defeated Maryland-Baltimore County 77-50 in a non-conference game Tuesday.
Manning, who did not start, scored his 16 points while playing just 22 minutes. Manning had scored a total of 22 points in the Tigers’ first three games. Manning made six of his eight field goal attempts.
“Charles did a really good job playing within himself,” LSU coach Will Wade said. “I don’t know if he will admit this but coming off the bench has helped him. He is such a smart player. He is able to see things when he is out there. So, he knows what’s going on once he gets in there and he can just pounce.”
Both Trendon Watford and Darius Days registered double-doubles for LSU (3-1). Watford had 12 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. Days, who had 10 points and 10 rebounds, reached double digits in both of those categories for the second consecutive game.
Dimitrije Spasojevic was the leading scorer for the Retrievers (4-1) with 14 points. L.J. Owens added 10 points for UMBC, which shot only 31 percent from the field.
“We had some open shots out there that could have gone down,” UMBC coach Ryan Odom said. “It was certainly a really poor shooting performance by us but give LSU credit. They have some long guys and some really athletic guys who can really bother you. They’re going to be a good team this year.”
After getting off to a very slow start, LSU took control of the game over the final 10 minutes of the first half. The Tigers did not make a field goal until Days had a tip-in with 12:50 before halftime. A 3-pointer by Brandon Horvath gave UMBC a 16-10 lead with 10:40 remaining in the first half.
From that point until halftime, LSU held the Retrievers to seven points. UMBC connected on just two field goals in that stretch. Meanwhile the Tigers began to get the ball inside as LSU took a halftime lead of 39-23 with 22 of its points coming in the paint.
“We had to pass the ball more instead of taking ill-advised shots,” Days said. “Tonight showed. We passed the ball more and had less turnovers. Everyone got going. We were able to move the ball and find the open man.”
UMBC came no closer than 14 points in the second half. The Tigers’ largest margin was 31 points at 77-46 inside the three-minute mark.
BIG PICTURE
Maryland-Baltimore County: The Retrievers had their season-opening four-game winning streak snapped as they faced their only Power Five Conference opponent of the season.
LSU: The Tigers completed their brief two-game homestand with a second double-digit victory. LSU beat Nicholls State 75-65 last Saturday.
STATS OF THE NIGHT
LSU dominated the game in the lane. The Tigers outrebounded UMBC 49-31. LSU grabbed 13 offensive rebounds which led to 13 second-chance points. Watford and Days combined for seven of the 13 offensive rebounds. The Tigers scored 44 points in the paint. LSU’s four post players – Watford, Days, Emmitt Williams and Courtese Cooper – combined for 35 points and 33 rebounds.
LETDOWN
Two of UMBC’s top three scorers failed to come close to their per-game averages. Darnell Rogers, the Retrievers’ 5-foot-2 point guard, did not start for the first time this season. He did play 29 minutes and scored just six points – 10 below his season average. Rogers was 3-of-12 from the field, including 0-for-6 on 3-point shots. Brandon Horvath, who entered the game with a 12.5 ppg average, finished with four points in 27 minutes. Horvath missed two of his three field goal attempts – all coming from behind the 3-point line.
UP NEXT
LSU will play No. 15 Utah State in the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic at Montego Bay on Friday.
Maryland-Baltimore County will play Eastern Michigan also in the Jersey Mike’s Jamaica Classic on Friday.
