CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Will Baker scored 16 points, Derek Fountain had 14 and LSU snapped a two-game skid with a 66-62 win over North Texas on Friday in the Charleston Classic.
Jordan Wright added 12 points for the Tigers.
Fountain’s bucket gave LSU (2-2) the lead for good with just over four minutes left with the Tigers closing the game on a 10-5 run. Baker’s short jumper and Mike Williams III’s two free throws in the final minute gave the Tigers a seven-point lead UNT (2-2) couldn’t overcome.
Jason Edwards had four 3-pointers, made all eight of his free throws and finished with 22 points for the Mean Green. Rubin Jones had 15 points and John Buggs III had four 3-pointers and 14 points.
Jones hit a 3-pointer with nine minutes left for a four-point lead but the Mean Green made only 2 of 15 shots from that point, including five 3-point misses, while the Tigers made six of their last nine, all from inside the arc.
There were 22 lead changes in the game with LSU’s seven-point lead in the final minute the largest. LSU shot 50% and outscored UNT in the paint 36-10. The Mean Green was 12 of 32 from 3-point range and shot just 32% overall.
LSU, which lost to Dayton 70-67 in the tournament’s first round, will play the winner of Towson-Wake Forest for fifth place on Sunday while North Texas, a 53-52 loser to St. John’s in its opening-round game, gets the loser in the seventh-place game.
