LSU defends, rebounds its way to NCAA first round victory over St. Bonaventure

If you want to advance and make noise in the NCAA basketball tournament, you have to play as a team in complete fashion, including defending well, rebounding well and getting contributions from your key players as well as from unexpected sources.

Eight-seeded LSU checked all of the boxes Saturday in a 76-61 win over ninth seed St. Bonaventure at Assembly Hall in Indianapolis in the opening round of the East Regional.

It was truly a team effort.

The Tigers locked down St. Bonaventure, holding the Bonnies to 33.9 percent shooting from the field (21-of-63).

LSU crushed St. Bonaventure 49-30 on the boards, which included 14 offensive rebounds.

The Tigers held its turnovers down to nine for the game.

After struggling in the first half, Cam Thomas showed why he will be a first-round pick in this year’s NBA Draft.

After going just 1-of-8 from the field and scoring seven points in the first half, Thomas exploded for 20 points in the second half to finish with 27 points with four rebounds, three assists and just one turnover.

Trendon Watford had 11 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.

Ja’Vonte Smart had just seven points and was just 2-of-10 from the field.

While Smart struggled, two other players stepped up in huge fashion.

Darius Days had 13 points and 11 rebounds. As Days goes, so goes LSU. The Tigers are now 19-1 when he scores 10 or more points.

Junior Aundre Hyatt was perhaps the key to the victory.

Hyatt had perhaps his best game of the season, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds, four blocks, two assists and a steal.

Another key to the win was the Tigers sinking free throws to maintain their lead as LSU went 18-of-22 (81.8%) from the line which will win you a lot of games.

The game was very ugly early on.

LSU’s first possession resulted in a shot clock violation.

LSU was switching on all picks by St. Bonaventure on the defensive end and it paid off.

No one scored in the game until the 17:26 mark of the first half when Trendon Watford dunked off of an offensive rebound.

St. Bonaventure missed its first five shot attempts but LSU started 1-for-11 from the field.

Watford got a touch foul with 13 minutes to play in the half, his second of the game and had to sit. Watford returned with just over 10 minutes to play in the half.

The first basket to come out of the offense was a 3-pointer by Smart with 10:41 to play in the half. Smart promptly got a technical foul after making it and it was his second foul and he had to sit.

Thomas missed his first five field goal attempts and finally scored at the free throw line with 8:55 to play in the half.

The Tigers then heated up, going on a 12-4 run to make it 19-12.

LSU took its largest lead at 24-14 at the 4:29 mark of the half.

The Tigers scored just four points in the first 9:30 of the half before scoring 27 points in the last 10:30 of the first half.

LSU held St. Bonaventure to 7-of-30 from the field (24.1%) in the half, including 0-for-10 from 3-point range.

The Tigers controlled the boards 24-15 in the half.

Hyatt had a solid half with four points, five rebounds and two assists.

Will Wade managed Watford and Smart wisely as he substituted them in and out frequently to protect them as much as possible as each played with two fouls. Hyatt also had two fouls in the half.

Days nailed a 3-pointer to start the second half. LSU then got a steal and Thomas attacked and scored, fouled in the process and completed the three-point play to make it 37-22 just 49 seconds into the second half.

St. Bonaventure then got hot, making three straight 3-pointers and made a floater in the lane to cut the deficit to 45-35 with 15:05 to play in the game.

LSU never saw its lead shrink below 10 points the rest of the way as the Tigers were never threatened.

The Bonnies could not close the gap as they were just 3-of-20 from 3-point range, making all three in succession early in the second half.

You had to be happy for Hyatt, who missed the three-footer at the buzzer which would have won the SEC Tournament championship over Alabama.

The Tigers (19-9) advance to face top seed Michigan in the round of 32.

While the level of competition will be far greater, if LSU continues to defend the way it has late in the season and if the Tigers can rebound well again, the Tigers have a shot at pulling the upset.