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LSU guard Jordan Sears (1) calls for a timeout as Vanderbilt guard Grant Huffman (4) reaches for the ball in the second half on Saturday, January 4, 2025 at the PMAC in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Cam Carter is liable to do one of two things when he speaks in a postgame news conference. The leading scorer for LSU men’s basketball (17.
3 points per game) can bring smiles to a media-filled room with his jovial attitude. It’s also not foreign for him to say in a few words about what occurred on the court. Carter did the latter after LSU’s 80-72 loss to Vanderbilt (13-1, 1-0 SEC) in the Southeastern Conference at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday.
In the senior's first answer, he said his team had its “welcome to the SEC moment” after trailing by seven in the first half. "We got to do a better job of that," Carter said. "We are in the SEC now, so we have got to learn from every game.
” The lesson LSU (11-3, 0-1) needs to learn from its first home loss of season is the value of getting shot attempts. Vanderbilt had 16 more attempts than LSU. What’s more demoralizing was that the Tigers made 50% of their field goals — tying its best mark against a high-major team this season — compared to the Commodores’ 44%.
LSU also made 83% of its 23 free throws, another season-best against a power team. LSU coach Matt McMahon admitted that those numbers “should be good enough to win” most games. It wasn’t enough this time because turnovers and Vanderbilt’s offensive rebounding neutralized LSU's solid offensive efficiency.
LSU knew Vanderbilt was in the top five in the nation in steals and turnover margin and prepared for this matchup. Awareness of their opponent’s strong suit wasn’t enough to prevent the Tigers from having 15 turnovers to Vanderbilt’s nine. The Commodores also converted those turnovers into 18 points.
“Against a team like Vanderbilt, great credit to them, they’ve turned people over all season long at a high, high clip,” McMahon said. “They’re really good one-on-one defenders. They're physical they keep you in front.
That allows them to deny all your passing lanes, and they put you on an island to go and make plays.” Too many of the Tigers’ 11 turnovers in the first half were a result of miscommunication or out-of-control drives. These kinds of miscues have been a theme in games against other high-major teams that aren't known for stifling defense such as SMU and Pittsburgh.
Turnovers played a major role in LSU’s 80-72 loss to Vanderbilt. LSU had 11 of its 15 turnovers in the first half. Too many were self-inflicted miscues from miscommunication or out of control drives pic.
twitter.com/3R03vwctIH After halftime, LSU protected the ball better. That gave their offense a chance to correctly space the court to allow Cam Carter and Jordan Sears to score, the duo scored 26 of their 39 points in the second half.
However, the issue with turnovers was replaced by a failure to crash the defensive boards. Vanderbilt had 17 offensive rebounds (11 in the second half) to LSU’s five. The effort level of Vanderbilt exceeded that of LSU at times and there was also some instances of chasing blocks instead of boxing out Vanderbilt players.
The most painful offensive rebounds were three in the second half that led to 3-pointers, including one after a missed free throw when the teams were tied at 66 with 6:26 left. Once the turnover issue was addressed, LSU basketball couldn't stop Vanderbilt's offensive rebounding. 11 O-Boards in the 2nd half.
The most debilitating rebounds led to three 3-pointers, including one after a free throw miss when LSU was tied w/6mins left pic.twitter.com/CMAqmj1bJS LSU looked displeased after dropping a home game for the reasons it did against a similarly talented Vanderbilt team.
The Tigers' issues with ball security and rebounding did flare up in nonconference play. McMahon’s players said they believe they can improve these problems areas as soon as their next game against Missouri (11-3, 0-1) at Mizzou Arena at 8 p.m.
Tuesday. “(The loss is) a good learning experience for us,” Carter said. “We’re gonna come back next game way better for sure.
”.
