With LSU on a three-game losing streak, there’s been a clamor for star freshman Ben Simmons to take over. He did it on Wednesday night in a close win over North Florida.
Ben Simmons is doing things college basketball hasn’t seen in 20 years
The LSU freshman put together a historically strong performance against North Florida on Wednesday.
Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
Simmons finished the night with 43 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, five steals and three blocks on 15-of-20 shooting from the field (and 13-of-15 from the line) as the Tigers beat North Florida 119-108. North Florida actually led this game by eight at halftime, but Simmons’ dominant play was the catalyst for LSU’s comeback.
It was a historically good performance:
Ben Simmons is the only major conference player in the last 20 seasons with at least 40 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists & 5 steals in a game.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 3, 2015 Here’s a look at Simmons’ shot chart:
Look at that stat line! Ben Simmons' 43 pts tonight are the most by an LSU player since Shaq also scored 43 in 1991. pic.twitter.com/tCFJySQmuN
— ESPN (@espn) December 3, 2015 Simmons showed the full display of his talent. He was great driving to the rim, where the Ospreys had no one who could physically match up with him:
He also continued to show his phenomenal passing ability.
Simmons badly needed a game like this after only scoring four points (but adding 14 rebounds and 10 assists) in a loss to NC State and also struggling offensively in a loss to Charleston on Monday. He’s still struggling to shoot from the perimeter (he entered this game 1-for-12 outside of five feet), but he has the gifts to be a special player anyway.
Credit is also due to North Florida for hanging tough. North Florida was on fire from three, hitting 19-of-33 attempts from downtown to keep the game close throughout.
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