BATON ROUGE, La. --- The LSU Tigers placed four players in double figures, and outscored Gardner-Webb by a 42-23 margin in the first half en route to a 78-57 victory in non-conference play on Wednesday evening.
LSU (5-4) shot 47 percent from the floor on the night, including a 48 percent clip in the first half, while holding Gardner-Webb (4-7) to a field goal percentage of 33 percent in the contest. The Tigers won the battle on the glass by a 54-35 margin, including a 17-8 advantage on the offensive boards, while outscoring Gardner-Webb in the paint, 42-24.
Harold McBride (Bronx, N.Y.) led all scorers with 19 points on 6-of-13 shooting, including a 5-for-9 clip from downtown, as Laquincy Rideau (West Palm Beach, Fla.) added eight points, three assists and three steals. David Efianayi (Orlando, Fla.) chipped in eight points off the bench while Tyrell Nelson (Charlotte, N.C.) posted seven points and six boards.
Keith Hornsby paced four Tigers in double figures with 14 points, as Ben Simmons recorded a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Antonio Blakeney added 11 points of his own, while Aaron Epps and Victor Craig each chipped in 10 points. Epps pulled down 11 boards to account for a double-double.
The Tigers started off hot from the floor, hitting eight of their first 18 to open a 22-10 lead on a three-ball by Victor at the 10:45 mark. LSU continued to dictate the pace of play over the next five minutes, extending the margin to 20 at 32-12 following a three-point play and an ensuing trey from Sampson with 6:38 left in the half.
Sampson and LSU would push the advantage to as many as 23 over the remainder of the period, with Gardner-Webb trimming the margin to 42-23 at the half on a last-second three by McBride.
The Tigers kept Gardner-Webb at arm's length throughout much of the second half, stretching the advantage to as many as 25 on a Blakeney trey that gave LSU a 51-26 lead with 15:08 to play.
The Runnin' Bulldogs would chip away over the next 10 minutes, closing the gap to 68-55 with a 22-11 run that was capped by a McBride lay-in at the 3:55 mark. The Tigers quelled the rally with a 10-2 run to close out the game, equaling the final margin of 78-57 on a pair of late free throws by Epps.
Gardner-Webb is back in action on Friday morning when the Runnin' Bulldogs host Warren Wilson College at 11:30 am in Paul Porter Arena as part of their Kids Day promotion.
