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Jalen Reed scored 16 of his 24 points in the first half as LSU built a 23-point halftime lead in its season debut and went on to rout visiting UL Monroe 95-60 in its on Wednesday night in Baton Rouge, La.

Reed made all five of his field-goal attempts and all six of his free throws in the first half and led the Tigers, who were 17-16 last season, to a 50-27 halftime bulge. He finished with eight rebounds and two blocks. Kansas State transfer Cam Carter finished with 21 points, Curtis Givens III scored 15 and Richmond transfer Dji Bailey added 13.

Jalen Bolden scored 25 points and Jerry Ngopot added 12 to lead the Sun Belt Conference’s War Hawks (1-1), who were 11-19 last season.

LSU, which led for all but about the first two minutes of the game, enjoyed a 45-30 rebounding advantage, a 23-7 edge in points off turnovers, and outscored UL Monroe 46-24 in the paint. The Tigers, who shot 50.7 percent from the floor compared to 38.7 percent for the War Hawks, had a 28-8 advantage in bench points.

Bailey’s field goal started the second-half scoring, and he added a three-point play during a 12-4 run that pushed the Tigers’ lead to 62-31.

Moments later, UT Martin transfer Jordan Sears made consecutive field goals and Vyctorius Miller added a 3-pointer that increased the margin to 36. The lead topped out at 38 points.

Reed scored LSU’s first eight points of the game on the way to a 10-3 lead. Bolden scored seven points to help UL Monroe pull within a point before going cold.

Carter hit a 3-pointer Reed added four points during an 11-0 run that gave the Tigers a 27-15 lead.

Bolden’s jumper ended a 5 1/2-minute scoring drought for the Warhawks and Tyreese Watson added a jumper, but Givens made consecutive 3-pointers to help LSU open a 44-19 lead.

Bolden scored UL Monroe’s final five points of the half, leaving LSU with a 50-27 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media