ATLANTA — Collis Temple came off the bench to score 20 points including six three-pointers to lead LSU to a 71-60 win over Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals of the Southeastern Conference Tournament in Atlanta Friday afternoon.
Temple hit two treys in the final two minutes of the first half before knocking down four more at several critical moments in the second half.
With the win, the Tigers improved to 26-4 on the season and avenged an earlier loss to the Commodores in Nashville. LSU moved into a tie for second place on the school’s list of victories in a season with the 1979-80 and 1985-86 teams.
The Tigers also broke a seven-game SEC Tournament losing streak dating back to a 1993 semifinal win over Vanderbilt.
LSU has won 10 straight going back to a 68-66 loss at Mississippi State on Feb. 2.
LSU and Vanderbilt did not score until Lamont Roland hit two free throws at the 15:58 mark in the first half.
The Tigers held Vanderbilt without a field goal in the first 9:25 of the game (0-15 FG), and the Commodores finished the half shooting only 7-of-32 shots for 22 percent.
Meanwhile, LSU made 11-of-26 shots for 42 percent.
After leading by only three, 22-19, Bright and Temple hit back-to-back three-pointers from the same spot in the left-hand corner to lift the lead to nine, 28-19.
After a Vanderbilt layup, Temple hit another three, this time from the right corner, to put the Tigers up 11.
To begin the second half, the Tigers increased their lead to as much as 16 points when Temple hit two more three-point baskets to make the score 52-36 with 8:00 left in the game.
However, the Commodores would fight back with a 7-0 run, cutting into the lead to 52-43. Temple then hit his fifth trey before Vanderbilt went on an 8-1 run to make the score 58-51 with 5:00 remaining.
Going into the final official timeout, Temple hit his sixth three-point basket and his 20th point to give LSU a double-digit lead, 61-51.
Dan Langhi and Sam Howard hit a pair of three-pointers to cut LSU’s lead to six, 63-57, with 2:15 left in the game.
As the clock wound below two minutes, Temple found Bright under the goal for a layup and Howard hit yet another three to cut LSU’s lead to five, 65-60
With 37 seconds left to go, Jabari Smith found Lamont Roland on a break away to put the Tigers ahead by seven, 67-60, and seal the win.
LSU will play at 2:15 Saturday against the winner of Kentucky and Arkansas in the semifinals.