South Carolina Drops Road Contest at LSU, 89-67

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Emmitt Williams and Naz Reid each scored 15 points as LSU extended its winning streak to seven games by defeating South Carolina 89-67 in a Southeastern Conference game Saturday night.

The Tigers (14-3, 4-0), who led for nearly the entire game, have won their first four SEC games for the first time in 13 seasons. LSU’s 2006 Final Four team won its first seven conference games.

Williams, whose 15 points matched his season-high, also grabbed a season-best 13 rebounds. Williams and Reid were two of six LSU players who scored at least ten points. Kavell Bigby-Williams, Ja’vonte Smart and Tremont Waters each had 12 points. Marlon Taylor had 10 points.

A.J. Lawson led the Gamecocks (9-8, 4-1) with 18 points and Keyshawn Bryant scored 10. South Carolina, which had its five-game win streak snapped, was outscored 32-6 at the foul line.

Two good stretches enabled LSU to build a 48-28 halftime lead. A basket by Williams with 12:03 before halftime capped a 10-2 run and put LSU ahead 21-13.

Williams scored seven points as LSU went on a 15-4 run over the final six-plus minutes of the first half. A layup by Skylar Mays with 51 seconds left gave the Tigers a 48-28 lead at the break.

KEY STAT
> LSU doubled-up the Gamecocks in the rebounding column with a 49-29 edge on the glass.
> The Tigers couldn’t miss at the free throw line, going 32-for-35 in the game (91 percent).

NOTABLES
> Freshman point guard A.J. Lawson followed up his 24-point game at Vanderbilt earlier in the week with a team-high 18 points.   
> The Toronto, Ontario, native matched a career-high playing 38 minutes.  
> Fellow freshman Keyshawn Bryant was the only other Gamecock in double-figures, as he finished with 10 points (5-for-10 FG).
> Tonight’s loss snapped a five-game winning streak by Carolina dating back to a 97-46 win over North Greenville (12/31).

UP NEXT
Carolina returns home to take on No. 14 Auburn (13-4, 2-2 SEC) Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. ET on the SEC Network. South Carolina Athletics is offering free admission to all home men’s and women’s basketball games for federal government employees and their immediate family members for the duration of the federal government shutdown. Click here for more information.