Carter’s heroics lead LSU in late rally past Oklahoma, 82-79
NORMAN, Oklahoma – The LSU Tigers scored the eight points in the last 20 seconds, rallying from 13 points down in the final 16 minutes to score an 82-79 victory over Oklahoma on Saturday night at the Lloyd Noble Center.
Cam Carter led LSU with 29 points, including an off-balance three-pointer with 20 seconds to play which led to a four-point play when he was fouled. The play reduced a 79-74 to just 79-78.
LSU double-teamed the in-bounds and Curtis Givens was able to knock the ball away. Carter the made a layup with eight seconds to play and he was again fouled. Carter made the free throw to give LSU an 81-79 advantage.
Oklahoma went for the tying layup but it was no good and Vyctorius Miller was fouled with 0.8 on the clock. His one free throw gave LSU the final three-point margin.
The Tigers won for the 13th time in 25 games and are now 2-10 in the league.
LSU finished the game with five guards on the floor after forwards Robert Miller III and Daimion Collins had both fouled out. LSU forward Corey Chest was unable to go in the game after suffering back spasms in the pregame warmup. Forward Derek Fountain was ill before the game and did not dress.
Carter, who had seven points in the final 20 seconds, finished with 29 points on 10-of-17 shooting, including five three-pointers and 4-of-4 at the free throw line.
Daimion Collins, despite knocking his shoulder out of place in the second half that forced him to go out of the game briefly, finished with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting, one three-pointer and 5-of-7 at the free throw line.
Dji Bailey also was in double figures with 13 points.
Oklahoma was led by Jeremiah Fears with 15 points, while Jalon Moore had 14 points and Duke Miles had 12.
LSU, which trailed by six at the half, shot 59.3 percent for the second half (16-of-27) and made 53 percent from distance (7-of-13) in the final 20 minutes. For the game, LSU shot 48.2 percent (27-of-56) and 11 total three pointers. The Tigers did not shoot the free throws well until the latter part of the game and finished 17-of-30 at the stripe.
Oklahoma shot 41.7 percent for the game after the LSU defense held them to just 11-of-30 in the final 20 minutes and just 1-of-7 from distance. The Sooners, now 3-9 in the league and 16-9 overall, made 21-of-24 free throws in the second half and 26-of-32 for the game.
LSU was down 35-29 at the half, and watched OU sprint clear by 13 points at 44-31 with 16:22 to play and 46-33 with 14:33 to play. The Sooners appeared on the verge of breaking it open at that point, but LSU dug deep, made shots and played defense to outscore the Sooners, 51-33, the rest of the way.
LSU would tie the game at 59-59 on two Collins free throws with 7:45 to play, and after an OU miss, a Carter three gave LSU its first lead in the second half at 62-59. Dji Bailey on an ensuing possession would add a free throw to make it 63-59 with 6:17 to play.
But Oklahoma would return to the lead and opened an advantage, entering the final 35 seconds up 79-74, before the Carter heroics for LSU started.
LSU had already planned to start the game in a four-guard lineup with Vyctorius Miller in the lineup for Chest, even before his pregame injury, and the freshman in his first collegiate start would have nine points and three assists. While Mike Williams III only had four points, his three in the final five minutes kept LSU close and he finished with four points, two assists and no turnovers in 19 minutes.
LSU returns home Tuesday to begin a three-game homestand at the Maravich Center against South Carolina. Tip time is 8 p.m. and tickets are on sale at LSUtix.net.
Matt McMahon Postgame Quotes
Post-Game quotes
LSU Head Coach Matt McMahon
On the team’s resilience to come back and win…
“That’s the most important part. The players, they’ve been very resilient through some struggles here. Obviously disappointed in the results, but to keep fighting, to keep coming to work every day, and then to have it paid forward there in the second half with just a phenomenal performance and a gutsy performance. A lot of curveballs throughout the day today from a personnel standpoint. You know, you mentioned Daimion Collins, he dislocates his shoulder again in the second half and sits out a minute. He comes right back in and just keeps fighting through. Cam Carter, phenomenal. I thought Dji Bailey, you know, playing at the power forward spot for 39 minutes tonight was fantastic. You know those freshman guards grew up a lot. You know Curtis Givens, Vyctorius Miller, I thought they made some big time winning plays for us.”
On the improved ball security tonight…
“Yeah, that was key. I mean you saw it early in the second half when we went down 13. You know, some bad turnovers. We got hurt in the painted area there. But credit to our players. I have to look back; I don’t remember a turnover in the last 12-13 minutes of the game. And then I’m sure we’ll talk about it, but man, what a performance by Cam Carter. You gotta find ways to win. I guess we were down 5 there with 25 seconds to go. And I think Coach (John) Brady said we finished the game on an 8-0 run in 20 seconds, which you don’t see every day. You know, just speaks to the resiliency of our players and their will to find a way to get the W.”
Cam Carter quotes
“We practice late game situations and that’s a lot of time, 20 seconds left, anything can happen as you can see. I just have to thank God, he gave me the energy to do this and I have to give him all the glory.”
“He’s a baller. He’s one of the toughest guys I know. For his shoulder to pop out and him just come back in the game and help us win, that’s [big].”
“It’s just hard work. It all starts with God. He puts us in these situations and my hard work shows here. I prepare the same every game. I work on game shots every day. Coach tells me to rest myself sometimes but I’m so locked in and focused, I just put my all into it.”
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