Throwback Thursday: Simmons battles Melbourne United

Back in 2015, before he was an NBA All-Star, Ben Simmons led his LSU (Louisiana State University) side in a pre-season fixture against Melbourne United.

Played in front of 8,646 supporters at Hisense Arena [now called John Cain Arena] on Saturday, August 22, 2015, Simmons finished the fixture with an impressive 16 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocks.

Despite this performance from the future number one overall NBA Draft pick, the Tigers lost 82–64 to United.

This fixture ended a five-game tour for Simmons’ LSU, which also stopped in Newcastle (defeated Newcastle All-Stars 89–75), Sydney (lost to Sydney Kings 97–95) and Brisbane (defeated Queensland All-Stars 91–88) before ending in Melbourne.

Prior to the Hisense Arena matchup, LSU edged United 97–89 at Dandenong Stadium.

Following the final clash, Simmons explained the tour had taken its toll on him.

“Definitely for me, mentally I don’t think I was prepared,” Simmons said at the post-game press conference.

“Physically, I was tired. My legs were kind of shot.

“We were supposed to be ready. Mentally, I was supposed to be ready, but I wasn’t.

“We learned a lot during the five games, and I’m just happy we were able to come down here.”

Following this tour, Simmons played one season at LSU, averaging 19.2 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.8 assists, 2 steals and 0.8 blocks across his 33 appearances.