LSU, Ben Simmons weather second-half storm in 80-71 win over Missouri

Missouri got a taste of what NBA teams will encounter next season Tuesday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, where LSU freshman forward Ben Simmons finished three assists shy of a triple-double.

“He’s really strong and really physical,” Mizzou freshman forward Kevin Puryear said of Simmons, who scored 22 with 14 rebounds and seven assists. “Of course, he’s a great player. That goes without saying. I just wanted to come out here and compete as much as possible. You don’t get the opportunity to play against the potential No. 1 pick in the draft every day.”

Unfortunately for Puryear’s Tigers, the first half wasn’t much of a contest at all and Simmons’ performance helped LSU to an 80-71 victory despite Missouri’s furious second-half rally.

LSU, 18-12 and 11-6 in conference, led by 22 at halftime before hanging on after Missouri drew as close as three points in the final five minutes.

“Obviously, the first half we were horrible,” Anderson said. “We had no energy, turned the ball over too much and didn’t get back on defense. We had a good discussion at halftime and I really wasn’t sure how we’d respond.”

Missouri, 10-20 and 3-14 in the SEC, responded by rallying within 65-62 behind freshman guard K.J. Walton’s hot hand from long range.

Missouri, which shot 60 percent in the second half, won the second half 47-34 against LSU, which entered play with the worst scoring defense in SEC play and coughed up 61 second-half points Saturday against Florida.

It wasn’t enough to dig out from a massive halftime hole.

“We just didn’t make shots (in the first half) and, when we don’t make shots, it’s deflating and our energy’s gone,” said freshman guard Terrence Phillips, who had team highs with 13 points and four assists.

Anderson, who drew his second technical foul in as many games during the first half, helped Missouri find some energy with an unusually animated halftime speech.

“Basically, he said we’re better than we were playing and we shouldn’t go out like that,” said Walton, who matched his career-high with 11 points. “Even though we’re banned from postseason play and all that stuff, (he told us) go out with a bang and try to shake things up.”

After Walton’s career-best third three-pointer made it 65-62 with 4:58 remaining, Jones’ squad seemed to be crumbling before back-to-back three-pointers by freshman Antonio Blakeney and junior Tim Quarterman stopped the bleeding.

Simmons, who had the assist on Blakeney’s bomb with 4:30 remaining, iced the game by drilling all six free throws in the final 2:32 as LSU pulled away again.

“The thing that Ben does is he makes everybody else better …,” Anderson said. “But the bottom line is Antonio made shots (and) Quarterman made shots. When we got the game back to where it was a close game, those guys made the shots they needed to.”

The loss was Missouri’s 26th consecutive on the road. That includes 23 in a row during SEC play and 30 straight away from Mizzou Arena against NCAA Division I competition.

Simmons had notched his 21st double-double of the season by the 12:51 mark in the second half.

To put that in context, Mizzou has managed three double-doubles as a team this season — one each by Puryear, senior forward Ryan Rosburg and sophomore guard Namon Wright.

Still, for all of Simmons’ brilliance, LSU found itself in a dogfight in the closing minutes.

Missouri scored the first six points in the second half on a pair of baskets by Rosburg and a putback by Puryear and kept chipping away from there.

Rosburg’s bucket with 7:48 remaining finally pared LSU’s lead back into single digits at 63-54.

Walton the drilled two threes sandwiched around another Rosburg layup, which trimmed LSU’s lead to 65-62 before the comeback lost steam.

Puryear, who hit a career-high three three-pointers, and Rosburg matched Phillips’ team-high 13 points. Wright added a team-high eight rebounds and sophomore Jakeenan Gant finished with five boards.

Blakeney finished with 18 points, while Quarterman added 11 and sophomore Craig Victor II chipped in 10 points.

Missouri shot 35.7 percent in the first half compared to 58.1 percent for LSU, which led 46-24 at intermission.

The highlight of LSU’s 12-2 run in the first half, which turned a 15-10 game into a rout, was a fastbreak led by Simmons after he grabbed a long defensive board and streaked downcourt.

Just inside the LSU three-point line, Simmons veered left, drew the defense and then unleashed a slick no-look, underhand shovel across the lane with his left hand at full speed to a cutting Brandon Sampson for a layup.

Want to know why Simmons, a 6-foot-10 native of Melbourne, Australia, is expected to be the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft? Watch that clip on a loop.

LSU 80, MISSOURI 71

Percentages: FG .483, FT .778. Three-Point Goals: 8-23, .348 (Walton 3-3, Puryear 3-5, Wright 1-3, Phillips 1-4, Gant 0-1, Isabell 0-3, VanLeer 0-4). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 2 (Gant, Rosburg). Turnovers: 15 (Phillips 3, Puryear 3, Gant 2, Isabell 2, Rosburg 2, Wright 2). Steals: 3 (Wright 2, Isabell). Technical Fouls: Bench.

Percentages: FG .528, FT .750. Three-Point Goals: 6-16, .375 (Quarterman 2-4, Blakeney 2-5, Sampson 1-2, Patterson 1-4, Victor II 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 10 (Simmons 6, Victor II, Blakeney, Gray, Sampson). Steals: 10 (Gray 3, Victor II 3, Simmons 2, Patterson, Quarterman). Technical Fouls: None.

Half: LSU 46-24. Attendance: 9,652. Officials: Tony Henderson, Jeff Clark, James Breeding.

This story was originally published March 1, 2016 at 8:53 PM with the headline "LSU, Ben Simmons weather second-half storm in 80-71 win over Missouri."