Following a big 68-53 road win over the Texas A&M Aggies last Saturday, the LSU Tigers men’s basketball team returned home to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center to play Vanderbilt. The Tigers’ commanding lead dwindled toward the end of the game but Matt McMahon’s team held on the beat the Commodores 77-69 to improve to 10-5 on the season and 2-0 in SEC play.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
LSU won the opening tip but wouldn’t score the game’s first basket until they were over 90 seconds in as Derek Fountain made a layup that Will Baker assisted. Vanderbilt scored six out of the next eight points with layups by Ezra Manjon and Ven-Allen Lubin while Tyrin Lawrence assisted on one of those plays and knocked down a couple of free throws.
Jordan Wright sparked a 17-6 run at the 15:48 mark of the first half with a made mid-range jump shot. LSU proceeded to get down the court in transition with a dunk by Fountain and a layup by Trey Hannibal. After a made shot by Lubin, Hannibal found Mike Williams III for the Tigers’ first three-pointer of the game.
Williams III’s steal off of Jason Rivera-Torres led to the open dunk by Wright and a seven-point advantage. Vandy called a timeout after Will Baker forced his way into the paint and the run concluded with a made jumper from Jalen Cook to put LSU up 21-6 with 9:17 left in the first half.
Rivera-Torres and Paul Lewis knocked down back-to-back threes for the Commodores to make it a one-possession game as the Tigers went on a mini-scoring drought. Cook ended the dry spell by being the only LSU player to make a shot for the remainder of the half.
Vandy went on an 8-2 run to tie the game but a pair of Wright free throws gave LSU the two-point with 1:43 to go and the Tigers headed into the break up 30-28.
The second half started hot as five of the first six shots, all by different players. Three minutes into the second half, LSU went on a 13-2 run that spanned until the 14:10 mark. The run began with an and-one layup by Cook as he drew the foul on Manjon and the same thing occurred at the end of the run as Williams III drew the foul on Vandy’s senior guard to put the Tigers up by 15 with 14:10 to go.
Evan Taylor’s made three ended the run by LSU and was the second made field goal by the Commodores in the last four minutes. Evan Taylor didn’t make their next shot until the 10:56 mark to cut their deficit to nine as Carter Lang secured multiple offensive rebounds to keep that possession alive.
A couple of minutes later Lawrence drove to the hoop to make it a 57-44 game in favor of the LSU Tigers but the next made shot for either team wouldn’t come for the next two minutes due to multiple turnovers and missed shots.
The Tigers and Commodores went back and forth until the 5:35 mark as Cook made multiple shots for LSU while three different Vanderbilt players each made a shot.
Vanderbilt went on a quick 8-2 run to make it a six-point game as Tasos Kamateros knocked down a three-pointer with three and a half minutes to go.
Lawrence and Manjon tried to keep the Commodores in the game late but Cook sunk a few from the charity stripe late to secure a 77-69 win for LSU as coach Matt McMahon’s group improved to 10-5 Tuesday night.
BIG NUMBER: 11
It was another good defensive night for LSU at times as they forced 11 steals on Vanderbilt while the Commodores turned the ball over 15 times in a 77-69 win for the Tigers.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jalen Cook
Cook was the spark LSU needed at times throughout the night as he led all scorers with 28 points on 10/19 shooting from the floor. The junior transfer also added four rebounds in the win.
UP NEXT: The LSU Tigers men’s team will return on Saturday, January 13th as they travel to take on the Auburn Tigers. Tip-off in Neville Arena is set for 5:00 p.m. The action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.