BATON ROUGE – The LSU Tigers welcome one of the hottest teams in the Southeastern Conference at present, the Vanderbilt Commodores to the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for a Wednesday night 6 p.m. contest.
The game will be broadcast on the affiliates of the LSU Sports Radio Network with the Voice of the Tigers Chris Blair and former LSU coach John Brady (Guaranty Media flagship Eagle 98.1 FM in Baton Rouge) and televised on the SEC Network with Paul Sunderland and Pat Bradley on the call.
Tickets are available online at LSUTix.net and beginning one hour prior to tipoff at the upper concourse ticket windows of the Maravich Center. LSU students are admitted free of charge and the first 500 students will receive free food from Whataburger.
The Commodores are tied for the longest active winning streak in the SEC at five games, having defeated Ole Miss, No. 5 Tennessee, Florida, South Carolina and most recently Auburn at Memorial Gymnasium, 67-65 on Saturday.
In a game with 12 ties and 15 lead changes, Lian Robbins had a bit night for the Commodores with 24 points and 12 rebounds, with a 17-of-20 night at the free throw line. Robbins drew 11-of-the-18 fouls that Vandy drew in the contest.
Robbins averages 15.1 points and 6.9 rebounds and shoots 109-of-217 (50.2%) from the floor. Tyrin Lawrence is the other player in double figures at 11.0 points a game. In league games, both are averaging higher numbers with Robbins at 19.2 points and 8.2 rebounds, while Lawrence is at 11.6 a contest.
The Commodores are 15-12 overall on the year and now are 8-6 and as play begins on Tuesday, one game out of a potential top four spot in the league.
The Tigers are looking to stop its long losing streak of January and February and will hope for another good performance from players like Cam Hayes. The junior transfer from North Carolina State hit for 25 points and also led LSU in rebounds (8), assists (4) and steals (3) in Saturday’s 82-73 loss to South Carolina.
KJ Williams had 14 points and Derek Fountain added 13.
In the game, the Tigers had a season low six turnovers, but the Gamecocks hit 15 three-pointers, including the first five shots of the game, and the Tigers struggled when they had a chance to score with the clock stopped, hitting only 14-of-26 free throws.
LSU will be on the road Saturday at Ole Miss (7:30 p.m.) before returning for the final home game of the season on March 1 against Missouri (8 p.m.). The Tigers close the regular season on Saturday, March 4, at Florida.