By CODY WORSHAM | Tiger Rag Editor
LSU’s last game before Christmas will leave them in desperate need of holiday cheer.
In their first true road game of the season, the Tigers surrendered 67 points — the third-most in any half in school history — and lost 110-76.
“Unfortunately, in the second half, they came out and made that quick punch,” said head coach Johnny Jones. “Unlike in the first half, we weren’t able to battle back. There’s not a good thing I can say…I thought we got our a–, our butts beat in all phases of the game tonight.”
Antonio Blakeney was the lone bright spot for LSU (8-3), scoring 21 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Craig Victor scored 14 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.
Dinos Mitoglou hit eight 3s for the visitors, one shy of the opponent record against LSU, and led all scorers with 28 points. Bryant Crawford scored 20 points and handed out 11 assists for Wake Forest (9-3). The Demon Deacons hit 13 of their first 15 shots in the second half to turn a five-point lead at the break into a historic final margin. They connected on 11 of their 16 3s in the second half, led by four from Mitoglou.
The Tigers return to action on Dec. 29 at home against Vanderbilt. Tip off is set for 8 p.m. on ESPNU.
Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement…
“9 o’ clock games make for long days waiting on the game time to roll around. I thought both teams got off to a really good start defensively. The first few possessions of the game, both teams struggled to score. We were able to get some shots going, and things worked out really well for us. It was certainly good for Konstantinos Mitoglou to see consecutive shots go in. Down the line, Austin Arians made some big ones, Bryant Crawford is solid for us, and Mitchell Wilbekin comes in and knocks down some three-pointers. We needed those shots tonight because our feature post player struggled tonight. We had a lot of guys come in and give us great contributions.”
On second-half performance…
“I was happy because as a staff we saw some growth in our team. We have been in situations like this earlier in the year when we would get decent leads on team and not being able to sustain them. I thought tonight we made a few mistakes, but we haven’t been making as many as we have in the past.”
On Keyshawn Woods…
“He scores on all three levels. He rebounds. He passes. He competes on the defensive end, and he’s vocal. He brings a lot to the table. He’s spoiling us as a staff because we expect from him every day. He’s playing really well and still has room to grow. We are really happy with his production.”
On Dinos Mitoglou’s big night…
“The guys continued to find him. We got a lot of shots because John would set a ball screen and roll really hard to the basket to force help. Dinos would be able to step out on the perimeter and find an open spot. It was really good.”
LSU Head Coach Johnny Jones
Opening Statement…
“I have to credit Wake Forest, Coach Manning, and his team with their performance tonight. I was really disappointed in our play, but you have to commend them for the win. They came out and shot the ball extremely well. We made runs at them, and they responded to those runs in the first half. Then they came back out in the second half and did not look back. We were not able to respond in the second half like we did in the first half. I thought they got looks and shot the ball extremely well.”
On Wake Forest offense…
“They were incredible from the three-point line. Those were big plays for them. They were able to get the ball to the rim and make some plays at the basket. They kind of had their way. They also got the mid-range game going a little bit. They took advantage of the opportunities presented to them.”
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