Slip slidin’ away
Ezeli leads Vanderbilt past LSU
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Festus Ezeli might be 6-foot-11 and 255 pounds but the Vanderbilt center kept slipping out of LSU’s reach.
Ezeli wreaked havoc on the Tigers, matching a season-high with 21 points as LSU fell 76-61 on Wednesday night.
Ezeli made his first five shots and finished 8-of-10 from the field with four dunks, his last a one-hander that gave Vanderbilt a six-point lead with 4:33 and sparked a 13-2 run to end the game. Ezeli, who missed practice time this week due to a left knee injury, accounted for more than half of Vanderbilt’s 38 points in the paint.
“If you don’t do your work early, he’ll get anybody,” LSU forward Storm Warren said of Ezeli. “We were a step off, a step behind him and he got his touches.”
The Tigers (13-10, 3-6 SEC), who have dropped four of five, have lost seven straight to the Commodores (17-7, 6-3).
Despite shooting 3-of-21 from 3-point range and just 36.9 percent from the field, LSU hung around in a game that featured 10 lead changes and four ties. Warren’s jumper with 16:39 left gave the Tigers a 35-34 lead — the last time they would be in front.
LSU missed its next eight shots and buckled on defense. Vanderbilt scored 12 straight points to grab its biggest lead, 46-35, as Jeffery Taylor capped it off with consecutive open 3-pointers.
“We have a hard time playing for a full ... 40 minutes against a team of that caliber,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said. “I thought we did the best we could in terms of staying right there. Going into the game, we knew we were going to have to play on the half court and try to stay within striking distance every four minutes.”
The Tigers weren’t done yet, though, as Warren came off the bench to score nine of his team-high 13 points in a four-point stretch. He converted a 3-point play after tipping in a miss to cut the lead to four.
Vandy responded but Andre Stringer’s two free throws with 4:47 remaining made it 63-59.
“We were confident,” LSU guard Ralston Turner said. “When we got it down to four we felt like we still had a chance. But give Vanderbilt credit, they made plays when they needed to. It got away from us.”
LSU went quiet, missing four shots and scoring just two points off two free throws with eight seconds left. The Tigers also committed two turnovers as Vanderbilt switched to a zone defense.
“It threw us for a loop a little bit,” Warren said. “We got good looks and got our shots up. They just weren’t falling.”
Turner scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. Freshman Anthony Hickey, playing just 70 miles from his hometown of Hopkinsville, Ky., added 12 but was 2-of-9 from 3-point range. Justin Hamilton grabbed 11 rebounds and had 10 points, just two after halftime.
Hamilton and Johnny O’Bryant III each picked up four fouls as Vanderbilt was 15-of-23 from the free-throw line. LSU was 10-for-10 from the foul line.
John Jenkins, the SEC’s leading scorer, had 20 points for Vanderbilt and Taylor finished with 19 points.
“I expected a hard-fought game and got one,” Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings said. “LSU is good, so much better [from last year], and Trent has done a great job in my opinion. They are very young and still very good.”