BATON ROUGE — Strangely enough, this really was the same LSU men’s basketball team that had lost 6-of-7 in conference play over the past 25 days. The Tigers went on a 27-0 run over a 10-minute span in the first half and went into cruise control to hold off Vanderbilt, 79-60, on Wednesday night in the PMAC.
Coming off a two-point last-second loss at Auburn, LSU (14-8, 3-7 SEC) made the most of its homecoming opportunity by shooting 51.8 percent from the field (29 of 56) including 10 of 15 from three-point range.
Vanderbilt fell to 10-11 overall and 3-7 in conference play. The Commodores shot only 37.7 percent (23 of 61), but made only 9 of 30 in the first half to fall behind by 23 at the half.
LSU guard Collis Temple III made 5-of-6 three-pointers and scored 17 points in the first half, as he led four Tigers in double figures scoring with 19 points.
Guard Torris Bright was 6-of-9 from the field including 3-of-4 from three-point range for 17 points and five assists. Ronald Dupree added 16 points and nine rebounds, while Antonio Hudson had 12 points and eight rebounds.
Matt Freije had 27 points on 10-of-18 shooting to lead Vanderbilt. Brian Thrornton was the only other Commodore in double figures with 12 points.
The Tigers made 3-of-5 field goals to start the contest but committed four turnovers including a pair of offensive fouls to allow the Commodores to stay within two, 7-5, at the 15:34 mark. Vanderbilt made only two of their first nine shots with two turnovers.
Freije, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer who didn’t start, came off the bench and made his presence known with a three-pointer from the top of the key to give VU their first lead, 8-7.
However, a pair of missed shots and turnovers by the Commodores sparked a 12-0 LSU run that forced coach Kevin Stallings to take a 30-second timeout trailing 19-8 with 13:02 to play in the half. Temple hit two three-pointers in the run.
After another 30-second timeout by Vanderbilt, the run increased to 19-0 on Temple’s third trey in as many attempts and jumpers by Bright and Dupree. LSU had a 26-8 lead with 10:47 on the first-half clock, while the Commodores’ shooting percentage fell to 20 (3 of 15).
Bright’s second three-pointer — the Tigers’ fifth in six attempts — a alley-oop pass from him to Brad Bridgewater on a fast break and a fourth trey by Temple moved the run to 27-0 over a nine-minute, 53-second stretch.
The Tigers led 34-8 when Vanderbilt broke the run on a jumper in the lane by Corey Smith. Vanderbilt missed nine straight shots and turned the ball over 10 times in the near 10-minute drought.
Antonio Hudson answered that score with the Tigers’ seventh three-pointer and Temple hit his fifth straight on LSU’s next possession for a 40-12 lead at the 3:59 media timeout.
Vanderbilt closed the half with nine of the final 13 points to trail 44-21 at the break.
Although the Freije-led Commodores cut into the LSU lead with a pair of treys by the 6-9 junior forward to open the second half, Vanderbilt was unable to get the lead under 20.
Freije scored 15 of Vanderbilt’s first 19 second-half points, as the Commodores trailed 62-38 with 10:05 to play.
Eigth straight points off a pair of LSU turnovers allowed Vanderbilt to cut the lead to 16, 64-48, at the 8:03 mark and again with 6:37 to play, 66-50.
The LSU lead got as low as 12, 72-60, on a three-pointer by Russell Lakey with 3:10 to play, however LSU, scored seven straight to end the game.
LSU returns to action on Saturday when the Tigers travel to face Kentucky at noon CST.