By Ryan Rogers
LSUsports.net
BATON ROUGE — After falling behind by 20 points with 14 minutes to play, the LSU men’s basketball team cut the Vanderbilt lead to two with 2:22 remaining. However, three missed free throws cost the Tigers late as they fell, 71-67, here at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Wednesday night.
LSU fell to 9-3 on the season and 0-2 in the Southeastern Conference, while Vanderbilt improved to 11-3 and 1-1 in SEC play.
LSU began life without Lamont Roland and nearly persevered behind inspired play by walk-on Charlie Thompson and LSU football tight end Robert Royal, who just joined the team on Tuesday.
Beshara hit Bright underneath the goal for an easy layup and the LSU crowd began to rattle Vanderbilt forcing them into taking poor shots and turning the ball over. LSU cut the 20-point Commodore lead in half at 59-49 with 7:57 remaining in the game.
Collis Temple hit Dupree on a nice pass and Dupree scored the basket. Bright drained a three-pointer as LSU got within six points at 60-54 with 5:04 remaining in the game. Jason Wilson made a basket inside, grabbing a rebound and scoring the lay-in to pull LSU within four points at 60-56.
Missed free-throws down the stretch hardened the Tigers comeback effort, while Vanderilt made only three field goals in the last 14 minutes.
Collis Temple drained a three-pointer and LSU pulled within two points of Vanderbilt at 62-60 with 2:21 remaining in the game.
Anthony William’s was then called for traveling and LSU had a chance to tie the game with their next possession. However a missed three-pointer by Dupree followed by a three-point play by Williams gave Vanderbilt a 65-60 lead with 1:03 remaining in the game.
The Commodores made their free throws down the strectch and held off the fierce Tiger comeback.
Dupree led all scorers with 17 points and 13 rebounds. It was Dupree’s fourth straight double-double. Bright added 15 points and Beshara scored 13 points.
After being severely out-rebounded in the first half, 16-8, LSU finished the game with a 33-30 advantage in rebounding.
LSU opened up the second half much like they did the first half. Sloppy. Constant turnovers combined with hot Vanderbilt shooting opened up the game to 50-31 with 15:36 remaining in the game. Vanderbilt went on a 11-1 run to open the half.
Charlie Thompson finally got LSU on the scoreboard on a nice cut to the goal lay up, assisted by Beshara. However, Chuck Moore nailed a three-pointer and LSU’s frustrations continued as Vanderbilt led 53-33 with 14:01 remaining in the game.
Dupree sparked LSU with a three-point play before Beshara followed with two clutch three pointers. Royal then saw his first action of the season and grabbed a rebound as LSU began to chip away at the Vanderbilt lead. The Commodores led 56-44 with 11:52 remaining in the game.
The Tigers got the crowd back in the game. Inspired play by Thompson whom drove the lane twice and was fouled both times. He made 3-of-4 free throws and showed hustle on defense.Royal provided the same type of inspirational spark with his hustle. He earned seven minutes of playing time in the second half, missing his only shot.
The game started off sloppy on both ends. LSU opened up the game with a Brian Beshara jumpshot, but began to fade offensively with missed easy baskets inside by Williams and Dupree. Torris Bright missed a wide open lay-up in transition.
Despite failing to find any rhythm offensively as well, Vanderbilt scored two easy lay-ins inside and the game was tied at 4-4 with 15:55 remaining in the first half.
Torris Bright struggled early on turning the ball over three times.
After a time-out Brian Beshara drilled a three-pointer and LSU immediately started running smoother on offense. Charlie Thompson scored a basket in transition and Ronald Dupree added a jumpshot. After a Torris Bright steal he dished it off to Ronald Dupree for a power slam. LSU led 15-9 with 11:26 remaining in the first half. The Tigers began the game 6-for-9 from the field.
Bright began to pick up his play swooshing a three pointer to give LSU a seven point lead. However, Vanderbilt responded with a quick transition basket followed by two three pointers by Sam Howard and Moore. LSU led 20-19 with 7:54 remaining in the half.
The Commodores took their first lead when Howard scored a basket in transition giving Vanderbilt a 25-24 lead. On LSU’s next possession Vanderbilt guard Billy Richmond was ejected for fighting with Bright and Beshara.
Vanderbilt took their biggest lead at 10 points with 1:14 remaining in the half. It was the result of a 12-4 run to end the half. Baskets by Anthony Williams, Russell Lackey and Moore opened up the game for Vanderbilt late in the first half. LSU made a 4-0 run to pull within six points, but a three pointer at the buzzer extended Vanderbilt’s lead to 39-30 at half-time.
LSU returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it takes on Auburn in Auburn, Ala.