BATON ROUGE, La. – The LSU men’s basketball team had a disappointing start to Southeastern Conference (SEC) play, succumbing to Vanderbilt 80-72 during their season opener at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Despite showcasing their fighting spirit and nearly staging a comeback, multiple missteps particularly around turnovers and rebounding, handed the Commodores their seventh straight win.
LSU initiated the game with early points from Daimion Collins. But as the game unfolded, the Commodores quickly created momentum, executing a 7-2 run to lead 11-8. After some back and forth, Vanderbilt established a more significant lead with LSU encountering difficulties, which was exacerbated by their turnover woes. The Tigers were out-rebounded 37-27, which included Vanderbilt's insurmountable margin of 17-5 on the offensive boards, ending LSU’s three-game winning streak.
Cam Carter captured the spotlight for the Tigers, delivering 22 points, marking his second consecutive game with over 20 points scored. He was instrumental during the second half, particularly when LSU rallied from behind to take the lead briefly at 56-55 with 6:34 remaining. Yet, the Commodores countered swiftly as A.J. Hoggard, who contributed 17 points—13 of which came after halftime—highlighted Vanderbilt's effective response to pressure.
According to LSU coach Matt McMahon, "The margins of victory for Vanderbilt in this game were the offensive rebounding 17 to 5 and the turnovers 15 to 9, and it’s hard to win when those discrepancies are so large." Such observations are stark reminders of the competitive nature of SEC basketball, especially when facing teams adept at capitalizing on defensive lapses.
Notably, both teams struggled from beyond the arc, with LSU and Vanderbilt combining to only hit 3 of 18 three-point attempts in the first half. Vanderbilt finished with eight successful attempts from deep, contrasting sharply with LSU's total of just five. Nonetheless, LSU's shooting accuracy remained strong overall, converting half of their field goal attempts (24 of 48) and achieving 82.6% at the free-throw line (19 of 23).
Despite Carter's successes, he wasn't alone. Jordan Sears also contributed significantly with 17 points, demonstrating his capability from the charity stripe, where he hit all eight of his attempts. Corey Chest rounded out the Tigers' top scorers with 12 points and five rebounds, but the team was nonetheless hindered by their challenges down low.
Vanderbilt, under Coach Mark Byington, leveraged their strengths to outpace LSU. They were more effective on the boards and forced 15 turnovers from the Tigers, which they converted to 18 points. Byington praised his team, stating, "I thought we had tremendous defense and kept them out of transition, did a great job on the boards. Everyone talks about the league and we just wanted to see where we are," showcasing their elevated performance as they entered SEC play.
For LSU, the loss serves as both a wake-up call and an opportunity for growth. The absence of Jalen Reed, their top big man sidelined by season-ending injury, noticeably strained their interior presence. LSU was left vulnerable, particularly as Collins and fellow forward Derek Fountain struggled to make impacts during the game. Despite this challenge, the team will have to find ways to adapt and recover quickly.
McMahon emphasized the importance of resilience, saying, "How you handle adversity, and how you handle losing is going to be important as we go through this league." The upcoming matches pose significant tests as LSU looks to regain momentum away from home. With four of their next five games on the road, the Tigers need to address their weaknesses quickly.
Looking forward, the Tigers are set to face Missouri, another challenging SEC matchup. The lessons learned from their opener against Vanderbilt will need to be applied to avoid repetition and swing them back to the winning path.