The LSU Tigers and the Vanderbilt Commodores meet Saturday in college basketball action from Vanderbilt University Memorial Gym. LSU beat Georgia in their last game, improving to 15-13 this year. As for Vanderbilt, they’re 8-20 after a win over Arkansas. Let’s get into our LSU vs. Vanderbilt prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
LSU Tigers
The Tigers’ season kicked off on a 11-6 run. LSU would then fall to Texas A&M, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, Alabama again and Florida in the next seven games, though. It’s been a 3-1 run for the Tigers since then with wins over South Carolina, Kentucky and Georgia.
Matched up against Georgia on Tuesday, the Tigers came out of the break with a 40-27 edge. LSU was outscored 39-27 in a rough second half but still held on for the win 67-66. Jordan Wright was the top team scorer with his 17 points, five rebounds and two steals.
Vanderbilt Commodores
Over on the Vanderbilt side, they were only able to win five of their first 20 games. Things haven’t been much better for the Commodores since then. Vanderbilt is 3-5 in their last eight with losses to Kentucky, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida in that stretch.
Back on Tuesday in their latest outing versus Arkansas, Vanderbilt was able to get back into the win column. The Commodores were up 35-31 in the locker room and held on for the win 85-82 in the end. Ezra Manjon topped the team on his 22 points, four rebounds and three assists.
ANDREW’S FREE LSU VS VANDERBILT PREDICTION
I’ll lean toward LSU. Probably not touching this one, though. The Tigers aren’t playing too badly over the last four outings. The Georgia game went pretty well (despite 16 turnovers and a rough second half) with 46.8 percent shooting from the field and 31 rebounds. That makes a 3-1 run in the last quartet including two wins over ranked squads.
LSU was able to bag a home win 77-69 the last time these teams met up back on January 9. The Tigers’ shooting wasn’t so great in that one (18.8 percent from 3-point range), however the 18 points off 15 Vanderbilt turnovers really helped. The Commodores should be able to mount some resistance in the home rematch. That said, I think LSU is playing well enough to be able to cover here.