NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Jordan Mickey amassed a SEC career-high 25 points coupled with 11 rebounds as the LSU men’s basketball team fought back to grind out a 79-75 overtime victory over Vanderbilt on Saturday evening at Memorial Gym.
The Tigers (15-4, 4-2 SEC) rallied from an 8-point deficit during the final 17 minutes of the second half. LSU knocked down an efficient 15-for-25 shooting performance in the second half and overtime. With the win, the Tigers moved into a five-way tie for second place in the SEC standings.
LSU used a balanced effort as five players reached double figures. The Tigers won consecutive games at Vanderbilt (10-8, 1-5 SEC) for the first time since the 1993-94 and 1995-96 seasons. LSU also emerged with its first four-game winning streak over Commodores since 1987-88 and 1988-89.
The Tigers improved to 3-1 in overtime game this season and have won five of their nine overtime decisions under Johnny Jones. LSU also has won all 13 games this season when eclipsing the 70-point mark.
For Mickey, the 25 points equaled his second-highest scoring output of his career. He was 12-of-19 from the field and nailed seven of its final eight shots over the last 25 minutes of the contest. The Dallas, Texas native secured his 11th double-double of the season.
Jarell Martin secured 19 points and 12 rebounds, his seventh double dip of his sophomore campaign. He picked up three assists and three over his 42 minutes of action. Martin has come away with double figures in 12 of his last 14 games dating back to the McNeese State game on Nov. 29
Off the bench, Tim Quarterman scored six of his 12 points during the overtime period. Keith Hornsby and Jalyn Patterson chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Hornsby-Patterson duo dialed up five three-pointers and notched 16 of its 21 points in the second half.
Vanderbilt was led by Luke Kornet’s 22 points and six rebounds. Wade Baldwin IV also tacked on a career-high 18 points and four assists for the Commodores.
Trailing 44-36 at the 17:25 mark of the second half, LSU connected on seven consecutive field goals and scored 13 of the next 19 points to draw back to 50-49 with 13:30 remaining.
Quarterman and Hornsby ignited the flurry with treys 42 seconds apart. Then, the Tigers attacked the basket as Mickey added a pair of layups sandwiched between a Hornsby reverse layup. Quarterman split his free throws to make it a one-point game.
LSU knotted the score at 59-59 with 8:15 left after Patterson delivered a three-ball on the right wing, but the Tigers were unable to grab the lead as the Commodores went back ahead 69-66 with 3:05 to go after a Damian Jones slam dunk.
Mickey was credited for a hook shot in the lane after Jones was called for goaltending and split his free throws to tie the ledger at 69-69 at the 1:07 mark.
Both teams had an opportunity to win in regulation. However, both defenses forced off-balanced shots and the game went to overtime.
Quarterman made his presence felt early in the extra session. He got a friendly bounce on a runner in the lane and found a cutting Martin for a layup to give LSU a 73-69 edge with 3:59 remaining. It was LSU’s first lead since being up 23-22 midway through the first half.
The Commodores responded with four quick points, but Quarterman vaulted LSU back ahead, 75-73, with a turnaround jumper on the left wing. He sank a pair of free throws to make it 77-73 with 1:13 left.
With 20.2 seconds on the clock, Vanderbilt hit two free throws and had a chance to extend the game into double overtime after Quarterman missed a pair at the charity stripe.
Vandy’s Shelton Mitchell drove the lane and his 10-foot runner was contested by Mickey and hit off the back iron. Martin hauled down the rebound and drained two free throws with 3.6 seconds to go to seal the 79-75 triumph.
The Commodores held a 35-30 halftime advantage on the strength of 10 of the last 15 points over the final 3:13 of the stanza. Kornet racked up 16 of his 22 points for Vanderbilt in the opening half.
LSU begins a stretch of four of its next five contests at home beginning with South Carolina on Wednesday evening. Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m. from the Maravich Center. The game will be televised by the SEC Network along with www.WatchESPN.com and the Watch ESPN app.
The LSU Sports Radio Network will broadcast the game on its flagship station Eagle 98.1 FM in the Baton Rouge area and for Geaux Zone subscribers at www.LSUsports.net/live. Jim Hawthorne, Ricky Blanton and Kevin Ford will call the action.
For all of the latest news and information on Tiger basketball, visit www.LSUsports.net/basketball. Fans can also follow the program on its social media outlets at www.Facebook.com/lsubasketball along with @LSUBasketball and @LSUCoachJones on Twitter and @LSUBasketball on Instagram.
LSU Coach Johnny Jones
Opening statement:
“We knew going into this game that it would be very difficult and a tough task for us tonight. I am very familiar with Vanderbilt and how they have played throughout the year. They have had a really tough schedule, even coming into conference play. The venues that they have played in, the competition that they have played, in their scores they have been right there, they have been extremely close. Coming back home here, I knew that for them they would play extremely well and I thought they did that in the first half. I thought Kornet played extremely well for them in the first half, and Baldwin as well. Going three-for-three from the three-point line, and they did a great job defensively holding us to 30-something percent shooting. I thought the second half, our guys settled in, played much better and executed on the offensive end and we were fortunate to get the game there in overtime and to be able to execute and win down the stretch.”
On having had experience with games like this in the SEC already:
“One thing is that we don’t panic, we’ve been there before and we’ve seen it. We’ve been through it on several occasions, and I thought tonight, again, once we were able to get the game there in overtime we were able to get the tip which I thought was important and strike first, making sure we score and put the pressure back on our opponent. Then we were able to come back and get another bucket and be up four. I thought that was helpful and beneficial for us, but at the same time, they continued to battle and play and we had to play it through right there until the end because of the shooters they have on the floor.”
On predicting who was going to take Vanderbilt’s last shot:
“I wasn’t sure exactly who would take it, they have a lot of weapons out on the floor. They’ve got Jones there as well that can go inside, they can bury with Jones and I thought he was able to finish in there. But the combination of guys that they have in there, they are a threat and you just have to be down and ready to play. So we weren’t sure who exactly they would go to for that situation.”
On LSU’s defense:
“First of all, we needed to do a much better job on the perimeter and putting pressure on the ball handler. We needed to disrupt it there, and try and block and get them to cut and channel and not allow guys to run so free. Unfortunately, the first half, Kornet got a couple of layups because we did not do a great job with the cross-screen action underneath the basket. But I thought we did a much better job down the stretch.”
On Tim Quarterman’s deflection at the end of the second half:
“It put them in a position where they had to scramble and they didn’t have the freedom or the time that they needed. They pretty much rushed a shot there at the end. I thought defensively, Tim did a great job. But at the same time, I thought LaChance had two huge baskets right there in the lane to keep the score tight.”
On never leading in score in the second half until overtime:
“It’s hard and you have to put a lot into it. We talked about it prior to the game, how deep we were going to have to dig offensively and defensively to make plays. We certainly had to dig deep for this game, especially in the overtime. To get the game into overtime, and then we had to continue to play extremely hard to continue to execute against a good, solid defensive basketball team to make plays. It was certainly a grind game for us.”
On his guys’ varying performances in the game:
“I think it shows us the versatility of our team. We’ve got Jarell, and Jordan who can make plays. I thought they were all excellent in our second half. And then our guards, Hornsby knocked down a huge three for us there and Jalyn knocked down two big threes for us as well. And then Tim was able to get in the paint. So it’s really tough for you to single out who they are going to take away from us, or double off on someone. Because those guys are very capable and have the chance to hurt someone, and that’s what they were able to do tonight.”
On when he felt like they had won the game:
“Well there’s three seconds in the game and you know you need both of those (free throws), because they are a great three-point shooting team and a high percentage as well. We needed to get both of them down because they are very capable. After the second one, I felt better at that time about the outcome.”
On whether free throw shooting was a big concern going into overtime:
“Well, look at Tim who had just gone to the line and not gotten a couple of big free throws for us. And there in the overtime, unfortunately he missed both of them. Jarell I thought stepped up in a crucial situation, under a lot of pressure, and in a great environment was able to execute there from the free throw line.”
Vanderbilt Head Coach Kevin Stallings
Opening Comments:
“We’re pretty disappointed. This game came down to a couple of key turnovers and a couple of key possessions… Our defense in the second half was not nearly as good as it was in the first half. Congrats to [LSU]. They made plays and we didn’t. Luke [Kornet] played maybe the best game he has had on our team. Wade [Baldwin IV] played well too.”
On Vanderbilt’s last possession of overtime:
“We ran a play and two guys went at one… Our next option was to have Shelton [Mitchell] take control and make a play for someone… It looked like there was some contact. I need to see it again to be sure. We got it six feet from the goal and we had a clean look at it.”
On looking for scorers:
“Riley [LaChance] had six assists and no turnovers. He played hard and played a lot… It’s disappointing when you need to win one and have guys who don’t understand how important it is to give their best. Overall, we played hard but had one or two guys who didn’t give us enough to win.”
On Vanderbilt forward Luke Kornet:
“We tell him all the time that it’s not what happens to you, it’s your response to what happens. Luke got put on the bench and he responded. Good for him. That’s what he should do.”
On finishing:
“We talk about finishing and we didn’t finish…. We didn’t guard well in the second half. Lesson learned. We have to keep learning…. LSU has a really talented team.
“You make your own breaks. We’ll win when we deserve to win and when we do enough to win. We have to keep trying to get better.”
On finding Vanderbilt’s best five players each night:
“There can be a tremendous variation in each performance. Luke [Kornet] is a perfect example. He doesn’t scratch at Kentucky but does well tonight. It’s a challenge as a coach to figure out who your best five guys are.”