Saliou Niang scored 15 points and grabbed 11 rebounds while Donovan Dent and Michael Ruzic also recorded double-doubles as LSU cruised to a 92-51 nonconference victory over Texas Southern on Friday night in Baton Rouge, La.
Dent, a transfer from UCLA, finished with 10 points, 10 assists, four blocks and three steals while Ruzic had 12 points and 11 rebounds off the bench for LSU (2-0), which finished with six players in double figures.
Abdi Bashir Jr. joined Niang for high-point honors with 15 points, Mo Dioubate had 13 points and seven rebounds while Divine Ugochukwu added 10 points for the Tigers, who shot 57.1% from the floor and owned a 50-29 rebounding advantage.
Jason Kimbrough Jr. hit 4 of 7 3-point attempts en route to a game-high 16 points and Bencao Vungo added six points and nine rebounds for Texas Southern (0-2), which shot 23.7% from the floor.
Behind a 4-point play by Ahmed Nedal Abdelrahman, Texas Southern jumped to a 11-7 lead at the 15:07 mark of the first half. LSU answered with a 20-4 run to take the lead for good as Dent highlighted the spurt with back-to-back steals and layups.
Texas Southern closed to within six points, 27-21, on a pair of free throws by Josh Akpovwa with 6:45 left in the half, but LSU used a 20-7 run to pull away to a 47-28 halftime lead.
The Tigers opened the second half with a 28-12 run and led by as much as 41 down the stretch.
LSU dominated inside in the contest, finishing with a 62-12 edge in points in the paint. The Tigers also held a 23-9 edge in fast-break points and blocked eight shots to two for Texas Southern.
Former LSU All-American and Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal sat courtside for the contest.
