Donovan Dent nailed a buzzer beater to end the first half to give LSU a halftime and it wasn’t even close to being his biggest shot of the night. That came later.
Davis Fogle stepped to the line with 12 seconds left and the chance to give the Bulldogs a 3-point lead. After missing the first, his second rimmed out and fell in to the hands of Saliou Niang. As LSU dribbled down the court, they were down 80-78 and needed just a 2 to try and force overtime.
Dent had different plans. He dribbled the clock
down, stepped back, and BANG. Nothing but net, Tigers lead 81-80 with just 1.5 seconds left on the clock.
After a Gonzaga timeout, they got a clean inbounds pass and Fogle got a decent look to be the hero, but it was not to be. The hero was 5th year senior, Donovan Dent, and Will Wade notched his first big win since returning as the head coach of LSU basketball.
The Tigers came out hot, grabbing a 5-point lead within the first few minutes. They were aggressive, active, and clearly there to compete. The Bulldogs are ranked for a reason, though, so they fought back. The teams trades leads throughout the first half with solid back and forth basketball.
Dent was phenomenal in the first 20 minutes, leading all scorers with 16 points on 6-11 shooting. His production was massive, because LSU shot just 7-18 outside of Dent. Closest behind him was Divine Ugochukwu with 7 points.
Brice Dessert was active on the boards, as usual, pulling down 7 rebounds in the first half. Mo Dioubate was scoreless, but his +6 score differential on the court topped anyone else on the court.
Gonzaga took control early in the second half and ran with it throughout the first 12 minutes. Mark Few’s Bulldogs built a 13-point lead of the Tigers at the 8:11 mark.
LSU wasn’t content with simply competing, though. They fought all the way back, even while being down as much as 9 points with under 5 minutes to play. Abdi Bashir Jr hit three 3-pointers down the stretch that prevented Gonzaga from pulling away. Instead, a few Tiger stops on the defensive end helped set up Dent with an and-1 on a layup, giving him the chance to pull his team within 2 points.
After missing the free throw, Skyy Clark fought for the offensive rebound and got fouled, himself, sending him to the line with a chance to get the Tigers within a point. He did just that and Gonzaga’s lead was down to just 79-78 with a minute to play, leading to a timeout.
On the ensuing inbound, Xaivian Lee tripped after getting possession, leading to a travel and a turnover. Dent had a chance to give the Tigers the lead, but missed a jumper with 48 seconds left. After a missed Gonzaga shot led to an offensive rebound and a jump ball, they retained possession and the chance to extend their lead.
Clark fouled Fogle on his drive, sending him to the line, and that’s where he missed his second free throw and Donovan Dent turned in to a hero. His game-winner led to a 81-80 LSU victory on the road in Spokane over Gonzaga.
He finished as the leading scorer on either side and securing his 3rd double-double of the season with 23 points and 10 assists. Bashir’s five 3’s led him to be the second-leading scorer for the Tigers with 15 points. He was 5-9 from the arc.
As he’s been through all 4 games, Michael Ruzic is invaluable off of the LSU bench. He nabbed his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. He and Mo Dioubate were instrumental with getting the Tigers second chances to score, hauling in 6 and 7 offensive rebounds, respectively.
For Gonzaga, Braden Huff led the way with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Davis Fogle was great all-around, finishing with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Up next
LSU returns to Baton Rouge to welcome in Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday night at 7 pm central. They will then play Queens in the PMAC on Saturday night, also at 7 pm, before heading to California for the Acrisure Series where they’ll square off with Arizona St and SMU.
Is this 4-0 start and road upset over #14 Gonzaga enough to get LSU in to the top-25?
