BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) Duop Reath scored 21 points and LSU made six straight free throws in the final minute to hold off Texas Southern 88-80 in a non-conference game Saturday.

LSU (7-2), which fell behind by five points in the second half, took the lead for good on a field goal by Reath with 6:37 remaining. Texas Southern (4-7), which has lost six games in a row, came within one point on three occasions over the next five minutes.

With LSU ahead 80-79, Antonio Blakeney sank a pair of foul shots with 58 seconds remaining. Both Reath and Jalyn Patterson made two free throws to put LSU comfortably ahead. Texas Southern did not make a field goal in the final 1:56 of the game.

''We got a 10-point lead and instead of us staying true to form on the defensive end of the floor, we allowed them to make plays in the second half,'' LSU coach Johnny Jones said. ''We started to settle (for shots). The good thing is we figured out a way to win.''

All but two of Reath's 21 points came in the second half. Craig Victor II had the third double-double of his career with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Blakeney added 16 points, while Patterson scored a season-high 12 points. Brandon Sampson contributed 10 points for LSU.

''I pushed through for the win,'' Reath said. ''Coaches and players were telling me to stay focused and to not worry about the first half. I will do whatever to help the team win. I need to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the court.''

Both Zach Lofton and Demontrae Jefferson had 18 points for Texas Southern. Jefferson scored 17 of his points after halftime. Derrick Griffin accounted for 13 points and 15 rebounds, while Marvin Jones scored 10 points.

''We're getting better,'' Texas Southern coach Mike Davis said. ''LSU made some big shots down the stretch. We needed to drive the ball against them in the second half. We did not need to be settling for jump shots. We had to make them foul us and make our free throws.''

BIG PICTURE

LSU: The Tigers, who have struggled in the first half in the previous eight games, blew a double-digit halftime advantage against Texas Southern. LSU was taken down to the wire by North Carolina Central and Texas Southern before winning by four and eight points, respectively, in its last two home games.

TEXAS SOUTHERN: Texas Southern's losing streak continued, but it played much more competitively against a power conference opponent. Texas Southern had been beaten by 22 points by Arizona and 31 points by Louisville. In its previous game, Texas Southern lost by 38 points to Cincinnati.

REVERSAL OF FORM

LSU had been outscored by an average of four points in the first halves of its previous eight games. LSU had rallied from a halftime deficit in three of its six victories. On Saturday, LSU had its second largest halftime advantage of the year at ten points 44-34. However, LSU was outscored 28-13 by Texas Southern in the first ten minutes after halftime. LSU needed a strong showing from Duop Reath down the stretch to pick up the victory.

DOUBLE TROUBLE

Texas Southern's inside-outside duo of Derrick Griffin and Demontrae Jefferson allowed it to get back into the game following halftime. The 6-foot-7 Griffin had eight points and eight rebounds during the second half. The 5-7 point guard Jefferson was 6 of 10 from the field and scored 17 second-half points.

UNHERALDED PERFORMANCE

Junior Jalyn Patterson, who has gone back to a reserve role for LSU, ended up playing most of the game at point guard instead of Skylar Mays. Patterson had his best game of the season with 12 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals. The points and steals were a season-high for Patterson. In the previous eight games, Patterson had made just 28 percent of his field goal attempts. He was 4-of-5 from the field against Texas Southern.

UP NEXT

LSU: LSU will attempt to extend its season-opening home winning streak to seven games when it takes on Charleston on Monday.

TEXAS SOUTHERN: Texas Southern will play its 12th consecutive road game of the season Sunday when it meets TCU in Fort Worth (Tex.).

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