After months of waiting, Will Wade’s return to LSU got underway on Tuesday evening. There was a solid crowd for the return of The General, with the hype meter at a 10 for what Tiger fans hope is the revival of the basketball program. It was a bit of a slow start for the Tigers, missing a decent bit of good looks in the paint. Mo Dioubate got chance after chance within the first few minutes, but started 0-5. He was doing an excellent job of creating space to get his shots off, but they were just barely rimming out. Thankfully for the Tigers, their defense was on point. They were swarming on the other end of the court and making things difficult for the Privateers from the very beginning. At the 10 minute mark, UNO only had 4 points on the board. The strong defending allowed LSU’s offense to shake off the rust from the first few minutes and finally find their groove. Michael Ruzic was the first off of the bench and he helped get the scoring going as soon as he stepped on to the court. His 7’0, 240 pound frame was proving difficult for UNO to defend. As the offense came alive midway through the 1st half, the Privateers went over 7 minutes without a field goal, as the Tiger defense continued to cause issues. One of the biggest issues was Saliou Niang, who recorded 6 steals, all of them in the 1st half. Within less than a minute, he stole multiple inbounds passes and immediately turned them in to buckets. After the game, Will Wade referred to him as a monster, being able to guard every single position on the floor. At the half, it was complete domination by LSU. They led 53-17 with three players in double figures. Ruzic led the way with 12 points, while Niang and Donovan Dent each had 11. The 2nd half, overall, was not quite as crisp for the Tigers. Wade said afterwards that they were not very good and did not play up to their standards after halftime. The accountability is good to hear from game 1. Brice Dessert got off to a hot start for LSU, scoring 6 points in the first 3 minutes. Some of the sloppiness that Wade was referring to was the amount of fouls that his team had in the final 20 minutes. The Tigers had 16 team fouls, twice as much as they did in the 1st half. There was a period in which they fouled the Privateers 4 times in just 24 seconds. No matter if the performances slipped, the talent differential was just too much for UNO to overcome. They went on an 8-0 run at one point around the 8-minute mark, but the damage was done. Niang was the first Tiger to record a double-double for the 2026-2027 season. He finished with 14 points, 14 rebounds, 6 steals, and 5 assists. He was doing everything and is an easy choice for player of the game. Dent recorded a double-double, also, as his 19 points led the team in scoring, while dishing out 10 assists. He also added in 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and a blocked shot. One of the final highlights of the game was Wade drawing a technical foul, while up 88-44 and less than 5 minutes to go in a blow out. He was on the officials for majority of the 2nd half and the intensity was fun to watch. LSU drew one final big cheer from the Tiger crowd, as Gilad Levy drained a 3-pointer to hit the 100 point mark. His 8 points in the final 5 minutes helped get to the century mark. Six Tigers finished in double figures, along with Dent and Niang. Ruzic scored 17, Dessert finished with 13, Bashir Jr had 11, and Dioubate scored 10. After his 0-5 start, he went 4-4 the rest of the way. Up next Wade’s Tigers remain at home for a Friday night matchup with Texas Southern. Tipoff is for 7 pm central in the PMAC. They come in 0-1 after a 103-79 loss to Grand Canyon on Monday.