Tremont Waters broke the freshman single-season assist record as the LSU Tigers defeated the Vanderbilt Commodores 88-78 Tuesday night in the PMAC.
Waters was simply tonight leading all scorers with 28 points. He also led the Tigers with nine assists, dishing out easy buckets to a multitude of LSU big men. The Tigers were relentless in the paint, dominating the Commodores with 42 points down low.
Even with the tremendous play in the paint, Waters was still able to find his shot. Waters connected on 10-18 of his shots from the field and hit a 25 foot three-pointer as time expired in the first half.
“The entire coaching staff told me to create and make plays because Vandy knew I was gonna come out trying to shoot,” Waters said. “Coach told me to attack the paint and spread the ball out and that was able to open me up and get me free to make shots.”
Waters exceptional play opened up the lane and allowed for LSU’s big men to get an array of great looks around the rim. Sophomore forward Wayde Sims finished with a career high 16 points and senior forward Aaron Epps finished with 15.
LSU’s best interior player Duop Reath played sparingly for the Tigers as he nursed a nagging ankle injury.
“Waters played well obviously and Sims was a difference maker for us he allowed for us to play smaller,” coach Will Wade said. “Those guys played well, they allowed us to play a small lineup to match with their smaller lineup.”
The Tigers have now won two in a row and improved their record to 16-11 and 7-8 in the Southeastern Conference. With the win the Tigers have three games remaining on their regular season schedule.
With three games to go in the season talks about a possible NCAA Tournament berth have started to surround the LSU team.
“Pressure is a privilege,” coach Wade said when addressing his team about a possible NCAA birth. “It beats the hell out of not playing for anything. We certainly have stuff ahead of us and we are prepared for it.”
The Tigers will have to win their next three games if they hope to improve their chances of hearing their name called on Selection Sunday. With only one home game remaining it’s pivotal that the Tigers take care of business on the road against Georgia (15-11, 6-8 SEC) and South Carolina (14-13,5-9 SEC).
The Tigers will look to prove that they deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament on Saturday when they face of against the Georgia Bulldogs at 1 pm on ESPNU.
