No. 11 Vanderbilt built a first-half cushion to help survive a second-half shooting slump and remain undefeated with an 84-73 win over LSU in Nashville, Tenn., on Saturday afternoon.
Tyler Nickel scored 19 points and pulled a game-high 10 rebounds for Vanderbilt (16-0, 3-0 SEC), while Tyler Tanner scored 20 points, Duke Miles had 17, AK Okereke added 12 and Jalen Washington delivered 11.
The Commodores pulled off the victory despite missing 13 straight shots during a stretch early in the second half. They shot 26.7% in the second half when they went 1 of 15 from 3-point range, while surviving foul trouble to starters Miles and Devin McGlockton.
Max Mackinnon scored 27 points to keep LSU (12-4, 0-3) in the game, while Marquel Sutton added 13 points.
LSU had a three-shot possession late in the game that could have made it interesting. Instead, Okereke’s fast-break layup on the other end, originating from that third miss, gave Vanderbilt an 80-67 lead with 3:14 left.
Mackinnon led LSU to a 12-1 second-half run as Vanderbilt went cold from the field. His drive and short jumper cut the Tigers deficit to 59-52 with 12:54 left.
Vanderbilt’s 13th consecutive miss came from McGlockton, who grabbed his own rebound and scored to snap the drought.
Vanderbilt, which led by as many as 20 points in the first half, led 52-38 at halftime after shooting 57.6% from the floor.
Mackinnon scored 14 points in the first half for the Tigers, who shot 44.8% from the floor, 42.9% from 3 and hit all six of their foul shots over the opening 20 minutes.
Vanderbilt’s offense was too much as Nickel scored 15 first-half points while going 4 of 7 from 3-point range. Tanner and Miles scored 11 points each in the opening half.
A long-range 3-pointer from Nickel gave the Commodores a 49-32 advantage with just under three minutes remaining in the first half.
The Tigers played without point guard Dedan Thomas, who leads the Tigers in minutes (30.3), scoring (16.2 points) and assists (7.1). In his place was freshman Jalen Reece, who had six points and two assists in 32 minutes.
Vanderbilt was again without top reserve guard Frankie Collins.
–Field Level Media
