NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The script was flipped on the LSU basketball team in the second round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday night.
LSU ended a 14-game losing streak with a victory last month over Vanderbilt, but the Commodores ended the Tigers’ season with a 77-68 win in front of an appreciative hometown crowd in Bridgestone Arena.
Vanderbilt gained a large measure of revenge for an 84-77 loss to LSU on Feb. 22 in the Pete Maravich Center, keeping alive its slim hopes for an NCAA tournament berth when the bids are announced Sunday.
No. 14 seed LSU tried to win for the second night in a row after knocking out No. 11 Georgia in the first round, but the Tigers couldn’t pull it off again because of poor field-goal shooting — especially from close range in going 11 of 23 on layups along with a missed dunk.
But when LSU (14-19) made a strong move early in the second half after falling behind by 14 points in the first 20 minutes, Vanderbilt (19-13) turned Matt McMahon’s team away.
While LSU headed home, Vanderbilt, which got started early behind guard Tyrin Lawrence, advanced to the quarterfinals to face No. 3 Kentucky on Friday night.
It was easy to see early that Vanderbilt was focused on taking care of LSU this time around. The Commodores went into the game having won eight of nine with the lone loss in that stretch coming in Baton Rouge.
Each team was missing a key big man as LSU forward Derek Fountain and Vanderbilt forward Liam Robbins, an All-SEC performer, were sidelined by injuries.
Fountain also sat out Wednesday’s game with a shoulder injury, while Robbins, who nearly had a triple-double with 23 points, 11 rebounds and nine blocks in the earlier loss to LSU, had surgery last week for a lower leg injury.
Lawrence got 13 of his team-high 22 points in the first half and wound up making 6 of 7 from the field and 9 of 11 at the free-throw line.
Vanderbilt also got 17 points from guard Ezra Manjon, who was 7 of 11 from the floor. Forward Jordan Wright, a Baton Rouge native who starred at The Dunham School, had 15 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
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