LSU, barring a surprise run in the Southeastern Conference tournament, won’t be part of March Madness in a few weeks.
But six Southeastern Conference teams will likely make the NCAA tournament, including Vanderbilt, LSU’s most recent foe, and Georgia, the team’s next opponent.
ESPN’s update by Joe Lunardi on Friday listed Florida, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama as tournament competitors.
LSU’s 90-69 loss to No. 18 Vanderbilt (21-7, 9-5) on Saturday kept the Commodores a game ahead of Kentucky and Georgia for a first-round bye in the SEC tournament.
Lunardi lists Vanderbilt as a projected No. 5 seed in the NCAA tournament.
The Tigers (11-18, 3-11) had the Commodores on the ropes after the first 20 minutes. Junior forward Storm Warren and freshman guard Ralston Turner put on a show for the sparse PMAC crowd in the first half, combining to score 32 of the Tigers’ 43 first-half points.
“Ralston is our best player,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure that out.”
With his team up, 43-41, at the half, Johnson said he was still worried in the locker room.
“I told the kids, ‘If we don’t defend, we’re going to struggle to win this game,'” Johnson said. “We had our best half offensively versus a ranked team. The law of averages is going to catch up.”
The third-year coach’s message rang true as Vanderbilt racked up 49 second-half points while the Tigers failed, shooting 8-for-32 from the field in the final 20 minutes.
“The story of this game is the defensive end,” Turner said. “Regardless of what we shot in the second half, Coach Johnson said that defense is what was going to win this game for us. That’s what lost it.”
A five-minute stretch in the second half allowed Vanderbilt to pull away with a 31-point win.
Sophomore guard Aaron Dotson hit a 3-pointer with six minutes left in the game, but LSU would not find the basket again until the 1:05 mark when Dotson put in a layup.
“The only disappointing thing for me was there was a six-minute part where I thought we stopped competing, and we got those glass looks on our faces because we didn’t make shots,” Johnson said.
While the Tigers were cold from the field, the Commodores were firing on all cylinders en route to a 49-point second half.
Vanderbilt knocked down four 3-pointers in a span of 2:41 in the second half to help the team reach the 90-point pinnacle, the most points LSU has allowed all season.
“We became the aggressor,” said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. “I talk so much about the team that’s the aggressor is the team that has the advantage. We made shots, and we made shot three there in a little spurt.”
Warren, who has made strides since recovering from an Achilles injury, posted a career-high 24 points Saturday, but other players were held to quiet outings.
Freshman forward Matt Derenbecker was silenced with zero points and junior forward Malcolm White managed one point off a free throw.
“This team is only as good as all 10 or 11 of them who are playing,” Johnson said. “There are some guys you couldn’t find today.”
The Bulldogs, the Tigers’ next opponent Wednesday in Athens, Ga., are also fighting for their postseason lives.
Georgia is in contention for a bye in the SEC East and are currently a projected 12th seed in the NCAA tournament, according to Lunardi.
Follow Michael Lambert on Twitter @TDR_Lambert.
 
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Contact Michael Lambert at [email protected]