Marcus Santos-Silva scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as VCU defeated No. 23 LSU and former Rams coach Will Wade 84-82 in a nonconference game Wednesday night in Richmond, Va.

De'Riante Jenkins added 15 points, including two decisive free throws, and Marcus Evans also had 15. Vince Williams and Issac Vann scored 11 each for VCU (3-0).

Skylar Mays scored 23 points to lead LSU (1-1), but he came up short three times in the final minute while attempting to provide a victory for Wade, who left the Rams to join the Tigers 2 1/2 years ago.

Javonte Smart scored 15, freshman Trendon Watford had 11 and Darius Days and Charles Manning Jr. added 10 each.

Vann made one of two free throws to break an 80-all tie with 51 seconds left.

Mays sank two free throws with 41 seconds left to give LSU its first lead of the second half.

Jenkins was fouled while shooting a 3-pointer and made two of the free throws for an 83-82 lead with 27 seconds left.

Mays missed two jumpers for the Tigers, and Santos-Silva made one of two free throws for a two-point lead with four seconds left.

Mays took an inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor but lost the ball out of bounds while trying to take a final-second shot. That was the Tigers' 26th turnover.

VCU led 50-38 at halftime and stretched the gap to 62-48 on a layup by Jenkins early in the second half.

Smart scored five points and Days had four during an 11-0 run that pulled LSU within three.

A layup by Santos-Silva stopped the run, but the Tigers pulled even at 67 on a dunk by Emmitt Williams with 8:56 remaining.

The score was tied again at 71 before Santos-Silva made a jumper that started a 7-0 run for the Rams.

Mays' jumper ended a 3 1/2-minute scoring drought for LSU, but Evans made two free throws to give the Rams an 80-73 lead with two minutes left.

The Tigers scored the next seven points, and Mays' layup tied the score with 1:16 left.

--Field Level Media