Samford @ Louisiana State preview

Last Meeting ( Dec 29, 2006 ) Samford 45, Louisiana State 60

The Will Wade era at LSU got off to a rousing start and the Tigers will try to build off an impressive 40-point victory in their opener when Samford pays a visit on Thursday night. Wade, who coached VCU to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons, watched his new team shoot better than 60 percent from the field and get 27 points from freshman Tremont Waters in a 99-59 victory over Alcorn State on Friday.

Wade told reporters, “We did a nice job valuing the ball and forcing some of their turnovers,” as LSU drained 11-of-19 from 3-point range and won the battle on the boards 35-26 while coughing up the ball just seven times. “It was a lot of fun,” the 5-11 Waters told reporters. “We came out and started off 9-0 and from there we just kept improving. We bumped up the lead and the crowd got into it. Ball movement was an emphasis. We got the ball moving and we capitalized on that and made shots.” The Tigers won just 10 games last season and six newcomers showed potential Friday by draining 20 of their 33 attempts from the field while four players scored in double figures. Samford, which returns its top six scorers from a 20-win team, opened with a 39-point loss at Arkansas before rolling to an 87-68 triumph against Alabama A&M.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, SEC Network Plus

ABOUT SAMFORD (1-1): The Bulldogs shot just 32.8 percent from the field against talented Arkansas of the SEC and followed that up by making half of their attempts against Alabama A&M from the SWAC on Monday. Senior forward Alex Thompson is the only player averaging in double figures scoring (10.5) over the first two contests while junior center Wyatt Walker is next at nine per game after scoring 14 against A&M. Senior guard Demetrius Denzel-Dyson, who led the team in scoring last season (16.1), has made just 4-of-14 from the field.

ABOUT LSU (1-0): Waters had been phenomenal in practice over the previous few weeks, according to Wade, and carried that over to his collegiate debut as he added five rebounds, six assists and five steals. “That’s a heck of a stat line right there,” Wade told reporters. “You can win a lot of games doing that. I thought he and (Skylar) Mays together really complimented each other - (11) assists, two turnovers. We will take that every day and twice on Sundays.” Senior forward Duop Reath, the top returning scorer, opened the season by scoring 11 points.

TIP-INS

1. LSU junior G Brandon Sampson made all four shots he attempted Friday and scored 10 points.

2. Samford senior G Christen Cunningham, who is averaging 8.5 points in two games, has made 103 consecutive starts.

3. Senior G Randy Onwuasor, who came to LSU after leading the Big Sky in scoring at Southern Utah last season, scored four points in his debut.

PREDICTION: LSU 79, Samford 65