BATON ROUGE — It was a senior day to remember Saturday afternoon as guard Antonio Hudson scored 25 points to lead the LSU men’s basketball team past Vanderbilt, 81-69, and to a share of the SEC Western Division Championship.
LSU (19-8, 12-4 SEC) ties Alabama for the top spot in the West, but the Crimson Tide, winners over Mississippi State earlier in the day, will be the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament that begins Thursday in Atlanta. Alabama won the tiebreaker because of its better division record (9-1 to LSU’s 8-2).
LSU will begin the SEC Tourney on Friday and face the winner of the Vanderbilt-Auburn first-round game. This will be the late game on Friday with a scheduled tip-off of 8:45 p.m. CST and televised by JP Sports.
Hudson, Xavier Whipple, Paul Wolfert and Josh Maravich were all honored prior to the game.
Hudson’s 25 points came on 8-of-12 shooting, 5-of-7 from behind the arc. Brandon Bass added 20 points and 14 rebounds for his tenth double double of the season. Darrel Mitchell added 16 points and Glen Davis finished with 13 points. Mitchell and Hudson combined to go 8-of-13 from three-point range.
LSU wins the Western Division for the second time since they began divisional play in the SEC in 1992 and will add another Divisional banner next to the one that was one in 2000. LSU finished the SEC schedule a perfect 8-0 at home, the first time LSU has been undefeated in conference play in the Maravich Center since 1981 when the Tigers were 9-0 in an 18-game conference schedule.
“To be the Western Division Champions in the SEC the way this group has grown and stayed the course, I’m so proud of these players,” said LSU Coach John Brady. “They believed in what we wanted them to do as a coaching staff. They believed in each other. They trusted each other. They trusted us. It’s just a great example of just staying the course and things seem to work out.
“This is how difficult it is in this league,” said Brady. “This is the first time LSU has been undefeated at home in SEC play since 1980-81, which in my opinion may have been the best team LSU has ever had. For us to have a part of what a team like this was able to accomplish feels good, but also shows you how difficult it is in the SEC to even go undefeated in your own building.”
Vanderbilt was led in scoring by the 30 points of Mario Moore who hit 10-of-22 field goals, including 6-of-11 three-pointers. Julian Terrell had 21 points and Corey Smith 11.
The tight first half turned in the final 5:26 when following a Moore three-pointer that tied the game at 18-18, the Tigers went on an 18-2 run to close the first half and LSU had a 36-20 advantage at the intermission.
Vanderbilt, still looking for its ticket to the NCAAs, came out fighting in the second half and cut the game to one, 48-47, on a Moore three-pointer at the 12:41 mark. But LSU battled back with Hudson hitting two free throws, getting a layup and then a Mitchell trey to push the lead back to 55-47 with 10:46 to play.
LSU would push the lead back to double digits and held off challenges down the stretch to cinch the win giving LSU a 19-8 overall record.
Vanderbilt drops to 18-12 overall and 8-8 in the SEC.
“I thought our team again showed some ability handle some adversity,” said Brady. “Vanderbilt, to their credit, needed this game they thought for an NCAA Tournament resume’ win. We knew at halftime they would still play. Mario Moore really made some spectacular shots to keep them in the game.”
LSU won on Senior Night for the seventh straight year and it was a satisfying finish for Hudson.
“It feels good, especially to come from where we came from where everyone was counting us out,” he said of the championship. “Just to come back and play to the potential that we’re capable of, it feels really good.”
LSU will leave for Atlanta Wednesday night and practice Thursday in the Atlanta Hawks facility in preparation for its quarterfinal game on Friday.