Lawrence leads Vanderbilt over LSU 77-68 in SEC Tournament

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tyrin Lawrence had 22 points, Jordan Wright scored 15 points and grabbed 15 rebounds and Vanderbilt rolled to a 77-68 victory over LSU on Thursday night in the second round of the Southeastern Conference Tournament.

Ezra Manjon scored seven points during a 12-0 run that stretched Vanderbilt's lead to 49-36 with 14:01 to play, and they led by double digits nearly the rest of the way.

No. 6 seed Vanderbilt (19-13), which has won four straight and 9 of its last 10 games, will face third-seeded Kentucky in a quarterfinal on Friday.

Lawrence was 6-of-7 shooting from the floor and made 9 of 11 free throws. Manjon finished with 17 points and Paul Lewis scored 11.

KJ Williams scored 16 of his 26 points in the second half to lead No. 14 seed LSU (14-19), which shot 33% (23 of 69) from the floor but matched Vanderbilt in rebounds with 42.

The Commodores never trailed and built a 14-point lead midway through the first half before LSU cut the deficit to 37-29 at the break. Lawrence had 14 points in the first half. LSU scored the first seven points of the second half to pull to 37-36.

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