ATLANTA — The LSU Tigers may have assured themselves of a first-round host site in the National Invitational Tournament Thursday with a convincing 69-62 first-round Southeastern Conference Tournament victory over Vanderbilt in the Georgia Dome.
But, the Tigers are still playing with a chance for an NCAA automatic bid if they run the table. With a record of 17-13, LSU will face Georgia, the Eastern Division’s No. 1 seed, in the opening game on Friday at 1 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on the LSU Sports Network (Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and on the Internet at www.LSUsports.net. The television broadcast by Jefferson Pilot Sports will be available in Baton Rouge on WAFB-TV (Cable Channel 7).
The win by LSU marked the first time that a Western Division number four seed has won a game in the SEC Tournament since Mississippi State topped Tennessee in the second round in 1999.
The Tigers were led by the solid play of freshman Antonio Hudson with a career high 24 points, on 8-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-4 treys and 6-of-7 free throw shooting. Jermaine Williams had a strong game, hitting for 12 points with three assists and five steals. For Williams that is 11 steals in the last two games. Torris Bright added 11 points and four assists, with four steals.
For the second straight game, Ronald Dupree was held below his average with seven points, but the Tigers, winners for the third straight game, were able to win again with the Hudson, Williams, Bright trio pacing the scoring.
“It was good for our team to win for the second time in a row without Ronald Dupree, our best player not have a double-figure scoring game,” said LSU coach John Brady. “I told Antonio Hudson after the game, ‘Great game, sophomore.’ because he’s not a freshman any more. I said on my radio show that Antonio Hudson will be an all-league player next year, that is how much progress he has made and that is how much confidence I have in him.”
The Tigers, despite leading most of the game, went on identical runs of scoring and drought which made the game like a dental extraction to watch. LSU went on a 16-0 run in the first half starting at the 12:23 mark until the 7:06 mark in which the Tigers built the lead over Vandy to 25-10. Just when it appeared the Tigers could coast to the half, Vandy went on its own run, cutting it down to 25-23 at the half, before Vandy’s Chuck Moore hit an open three 30 seconds into the second half to give Vandy a 26-25 lead.
Moore was the catalyst in the rally with 15 points, but his three to open the half would be his last score other than three free throws the rest of the way. Moore led the Commodores with 21 points, while Matt Freije added 18 for Vandy, 16-14 on the year.
“We didn’t play very well offensively and defensively we broke down in the second half,” said Vanderbilt Coach Kevin Stallings. “We were very careless with the ball. Some of our turnovers (23) were just bad. That’s how it goes. When you make that many mistakes you’re not able to get into a rhythm. We weren’t able to shoot it outside. When the big guys got, they weren’t able to score.”
“I think the first thing is that we didn’t let them get into a rhythm on offense,” said Brady, who is 3-2 in his last five SEC Tournament games. “We made them turn the ball over more than they normally do. Earlier in the year they shot 11-22 from the 3-point line (in Nashville). Today they were 7-25. Any time Vanderbilt has made less the eight three-pointers in a game they have a hard-time winning. I told the team that if we could defend well from the 3-point line, we would have a chance to beat them.”
In facing Georgia on Friday, the Tigers will be trying to avenge a one-point last-minute defeat to the Bulldogs, 55-54, on February 23 in Baton Rouge. Ironically, when the teams met in the first round a year ago, LSU rallied to top the Bulldogs, 63-62, in the first round of the 2001 event in Nashville.
The Tigers had 28 points off turnovers in the contest, forcing the Commodores into the most turnovers all season, 23.
“We played hard,” said Hudson. “We tried to keep up the defensive intensity. We started making shots. Overall we played well and I had a good game, but if it weren’t for my teammates then we wouldn’t have won.”