Tag: 2023 SEC Tournament

PHOTOS: Rough season for LSU ends in SEC Tournament 2nd round vs. Vanderbilt

The Tigers couldn’t pull off a second tournament seed upset on Thursday night.

The Tigers didn’t quite have it in them to pull off a second-straight seed upset (and their second win over Vanderbilt of the season) on Thursday night. Facing the Commodores at the SEC Tournament in Nashville with a spot in the quarterfinals on the line, LSU’s season came to an end in the second round with a 77-68 loss.

It ends a rough campaign for first-year coach [autotag]Matt McMahon[/autotag], whose team finished the year 14-19 and just a 2-16 record in SEC regular season play. However, it did win a game in the SEC Tournament against Georgia.

LSU shot just 33.3% from the field in the loss on Thursday night, and the biggest bright spot offensively was [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag], who had a 26-point, 11-rebound double-double. [autotag]Cam Hayes[/autotag] also scored 16.

Here were the photos from the loss, which ended the Tigers’ slim chances at an NCAA Tournament auto-bid.

PHOTOS: LSU takes down Georgia in SEC Tournament opener, advances to 2nd round

The Tigers survived and advanced in the tournament on Wednesday night.

The Tigers’ run in Nashville at the 2023 Men’s SEC Basketball Tournament will continue at least one more day as No. 14 LSU took down No. 11 Georgia in a seed upset on Wednesday night, though coach Matt McMahon’s team actually entered as a slim favorite.

With the 72-67 win, the Tigers defeat just their third SEC opponent of the season. Now, they’ll advance to the second round to take on a six-seeded Vanderbilt team that ended conference play on a hot streak but also lost to this LSU team just a couple of weeks ago.

The Tigers will hope to pull off some magic again and advance to face Kentucky in the quarterfinal. In the meantime, here were the best photos from the win on Wednesday night.

LSU keeps season alive with win over Georgia in SEC Tournament opener

LSU survived a dogfight against UGA and advances to play Vanderbilt on Thursday night.

The LSU men’s basketball team will live to play at least one more day.

The No. 14-seeded Tigers won their opener at the SEC Tournament on Wednesday night, beating the No. 11-seeded Georgia Bulldogs 72-67 despite squandering a 12-point halftime lead.

The win gives LSU (14-18, 3-16 SEC) its third victory against an SEC team this season, and now the Tigers will take on the Vanderbilt Commodores — who they beat just a few weeks ago — in the second round on Thursday.

Neither team was particularly efficient offensively in the first half. LSU outshot Georgia 40.5% to 37.5%, but the main difference in the opening frame proved to be turnovers.

UGA had eight giveaways to the Tigers’ one, and that resulted in nine points going the other way. It allowed LSU to stretch its lead to 42-30 as it took a comfortable advantage to the locker room.

However, the Tigers had a very inefficient second half offensively. They shot 31% from the field, while Georgia was much better and shot 42.3%. The Bulldogs stormed back and ultimately managed to take the lead with just over four minutes to play.

But LSU didn’t waver, and thanks to a couple of timely shots down the stretch from [autotag]KJ Williams[/autotag] and [autotag]Shawn Phillips[/autotag], who recorded 18 and 13 points, respectively, allowed the Tigers to hang on. Phillips finished with a double-double, as did Trae [autotag]Hannibal[/autotag] with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

LSU will hope to keep its slim hopes at an auto-bid in the NCAA Tournament alive against the Commodores on Thursday night.

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SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament 2023 bracket, schedule, TV info

Here’s the full schedule for this week’s events in Nashville.

After a disappointing finish to the regular season on the road against Florida on Saturday night, LSU will now look toward its postseason journey, however long that may last.

At 13-18 overall and just 2-16 in conference play, the Tigers are the No. 14 seed in the SEC tournament and will have to play in the opening round against No. 11-seeded Georgia, who LSU took to the wire a few weeks ago, on Wednesday night.

With a win in that one, LSU would move on to face No. 6-seeded Vanderbilt in the second round.

The postseason is set to begin on Wednesday, and the tournament in Nashville will run through Sunday. Here’s the full schedule for this week’s events.

SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament 2023

All times Central and all games at Bridgestone Arena, Nashville, Tennessee.

*Denotes approximate start times

Final SEC men’s basketball standings and tournament seeding following conclusion of regular season

The Tigers went just 2-16 in conference play and will be the No. 14 seed in Nashville this week.

The 2022-23 regular season for SEC men’s basketball is now in the books, and it was largely one that LSU fans will wish to forget.

After a 12-1 start and an upset win over then-No. 9 Arkansas in the SEC opener, the Tigers proceeded to drop 14 games in a row and fell to the bottom of the league standings.

LSU ended that skid with a win over a hot Vanderbilt team, but it wasn’t able to build on that performance and dropped its final three games of the regular season. Now, coach Matt McMahon’s team enters the SEC Tournament as the No. 14 seed and will open against No. 11-seeded Georgia on Wednesday night.

On the eve of the tournament, here’s how the final league standings shake out. This is also the seed list for this week’s event in Nashville.