Once LSU got going, the Tigers all but coasted over St. Bonaventure in a first round NCAA Tournament game on Saturday. But for a while, it seemed as if the scoreboard operator might have an easy afternoon.

Cam Thomas scored 27 points to lead 4 LSU players in double figures as the Tigers built on a 9-point lead at halftime to cruise to a 76-61 victory. LSU will face the winner of the Texas Southern-Michigan game, which was still in progress at the end of the Tigers’ game.

In the first half, LSU scored 27 points in the final 10:45 after it mustered just 4 points in the first 9:15.

The Tigers came within a point of beating No. 5 Alabama for the SEC championship last weekend, and afterward were assigned the No. 8 seed in the East Region. St. Bonaventure beat VCU by nine in its last game, while LSU’s loss to Alabama came down to the closing seconds and multiple attempts before an 80-79 defeat.

At halftime, LSU shot 36 percent from the field, while it held the Bonnies to 24 percent. LSU was 3-of-14 on 3s to Bonaventure’s is 0-of-9. The Tigers also outrebounded the Bonnies 22-15.

Thomas, who didn’t score a point in the first 11 minutes of the game, has averaged 22.6 points. Droughts were a story throughout the game.

LSU started the game 1 of 12 from the field, then went 9 of 16 the rest of the way. Then the Tigers had a stretch where they made 8 of 11 when they built their largest lead at 29-18. They later built a lead of 16 points.

The Bonnies, meanwhile, were 2 of 19 to start and was 4 of 25 by late in the first half.