Cameron Thomas, Trendon Watford and Darius Days had double-doubles as LSU bounced back from consecutive losses to rout short-handed Vanderbilt 83-68 in the Tigers' home finale Tuesday night in Baton Rouge, La.
The victory clinched a top-four seed and a double bye in the Southeastern Conference tournament for LSU (15-8, 10-6). The Tigers have won at least 10 SEC games for the third consecutive season under coach Will Wade, the longest such streak since they had five straight SEC double-digit-win seasons under Dale Brown from 1988-92.
Thomas had 23 points and 10 rebounds, Watford had 14 points and 13 rebounds and Days had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Javonte Smart added 12 points for the Tigers.
Maxwell Evans scored 20 points and Jordan Wright had 13 to lead the Commodores (7-14, 3-12), who played their third consecutive game without their top two scorers. Leading scorer Scotty Pippen Jr. (20.5 points per game) is sidelined due to a hip injury and Dylan Disu (15 points, 9.2 rebounds) is out for the season because of a knee injury.
Thomas had two baskets and Days sank a 3-pointer as LSU raced to a 9-0 lead. Days had gone 0-for-8 from the field, all from 3-point range, in the Tigers' loss at Arkansas on Saturday.
Vanderbilt didn't score until Braelee Albert made a 3-pointer nearly five minutes into the game.
Days made his next two 3-point attempts as the Tigers pushed the lead to 17-3.
The Commodores started to come to life as Issac McBride's layup pulled them within 19-10.
Wright made a layup and a 3-pointer as Vanderbilt got within 29-19.
Smart and Jalen Cook each hit a 3-pointer during a 10-0 run that gave the Tigers a 39-19 lead. Smart drained a 3-pointer to put LSU in command with a 46-24 halftime lead.
--Field Level Media
Vanderbilt | Louisiana State | |
Maxwell Evans 20 | Scoring | Cameron Thomas 23 |
Maxwell Evans 3 | Assists | Darius Days 4 |
Jordan Wright 6 | Rebounds | Trendon Watford 13 |
Maxwell Evans 4 | Free Throws Made | Cameron Thomas 8 |
Trey Thomas 3 | Steals | Jalen Cook 1 |
Clevon Brown 1 | Blocks | Darius Days 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
Vanderbilt | 68 | 38.7 | 8-27 | 12-21 | 9 | 27 | 2 | 10 | 8 |
Louisiana State | 83 | 46.2 | 10-26 | 13-16 | 17 | 48 | 4 | 4 | 16 |