BATON ROUGE - Ben Simmons scored 23 points and Antonio Blakeney had 22 to lead No. 23 LSU to a 78-66 win over South Alabama in a regional round of the Legends Classic on Thursday night.

Simmons, who also had a season-high 16 rebounds, made 9 of 14 from the field for the Tigers (3-0). Blakeney hit on four 3-pointers.

LSU did not allow South Alabama to pull within single digits in the second half. Three 3-pointers over a 2½-minute stretch by Blakeney helped the Tigers go ahead 55-36 with 14:40 remaining.

Backup LSU point guard Josh Gray had 11 points, while starting center Elbert Robinson had a career-best 10.

Nick Stover led South Alabama (1-2) with 13 points. Don MuepoKelly came off the bench and contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.