Louisiana Tech’s Braylon Wenger learned that turning his back toward an LSU defender wasn’t a winning maneuver.

When the 6-foot-7 forward started to back down the slimmer Abdi Bashir near the free-throw line, Tigers backup guard Divine Ugochukwu swooped in from behind for the pilfer, leading to his fastbreak two-hand dunk.

That was one of 16 steals that led to instant scoring during LSU’s 90-50 win over Louisiana Tech (2-1) on Monday at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Before the season, coach Will Wade emphasized that he wants his team to be the aggressor and for their physical and mental dominance to “pop through the TV” and in person.

As it has in its first two games, LSU’s expected dominance against outmatched mid-major opponents showed on screens and in the stats. For the first time in program history, LSU (3-0) has won three straight games by 40 or more points.

The stat-to-finish rout was instigated by elite turnover generation. The Tigers forced 23 turnovers, which hasn’t happened since Nov. 17, 2022, when they accomplished it in a 91-62 win over LSU New Orleans. In the first two games, LSU averaged 15 forced turnovers.

LSU’s starting backcourt of Skyy Clark and Donovan Dent had five steals apiece, stripping ball handlers clean after full-court pressing and jumping passing lanes that Louisiana Tech believed were clear for deliveries.

“I thought Donnie and Skyy did a great job pestering those guards. So, you know, that's a big part of what we do,” Wade said after the game.

Bashir, who had 16 points, said that the press defense has been practiced since the team’s first practice as a group Sept. 2.

“We’ve been practicing that since we all been together,” he said. “It’s just something we’ve been grinding every day.”

The goal of the full-court pressure is not only to waste valuable seconds for the opposing team’s offense but also to take the ball and score quickly on the other end.

“Points off turnovers is a huge stat when you're as aggressive as we are on defense,” Wade said. “You're trying to do what we're trying to do on defense. You get to turn those into steals. And our guys are really active tonight. You know, (Saliou Niang) and Mo. I thought Mo was way more active at the front of the press tonight, which was huge. You know, we got to just keep coming at you with our activity on the front of that press.”

LSU finished the contest with 38 points off turnovers. It also outscored Louisiana Tech in fastbreak points 21-2.

The ability to get “free” points by making opponents uncomfortable will be a critical piece of the team’s winning formula, especially when it sees its first challenging opponent in No. 14 Gonzaga at 2:30 p.m. Saturday at Numerica Veterans Arena in Spokane, Washington.

“Yeah, that's a big part of our game,” Bashir said of scoring off turnovers. Skyy's a great defender, (Niang’s) a great defender in our press. It causes so many turnovers or opportunities for points, and yeah, those points, you know, you can steal away from teams quick. We have more possessions because we're getting the ball more from turnovers and converting them into points. So that's important."