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Freije and Przybyszewski Power Vanderbilt Past LSU, 74-54 2/21/2004
Freije and Przybyszewski Power Vanderbilt Past LSU, 74-54 <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = “urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags” /> NASHVILLE — Matt Freije and Dawid Przybyszewski combined for 43 points to lead Vanderbilt past No. 24 LSU, 74-54, Saturday evening at Memorial Gymnasium. Freije finished with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-20 shooting. He is now six points shy of setting the Vanderbilt career scoring record. Przybyszewski tallied 21 points on 7-of-9 shooting, including 5-of-5 from behind the three-point arc. With the win the Commodores (17-6, 6-6 in the Southeastern Conference) pulled even in conference play and tied the school record for most home wins in a season at 14. Vanderbilt began the game with a 10-3 run, fueled by eight points from Przybyszewski. Vanderbilt led throughout most of the first half, until LSU tied the score at 20-20 on a three-pointer by junior guard Antonio Hudson. LSU closed the half with an 8-2 run to lead 28-22 at the break. Vanderbilt came out energized in the second half. The Commodores tied the score at 28-28 on back-to-back three-pointers from Freije and Przybyszewski. The pair also combined to ignite a 10-3 run. Following a missed free throw by Frieje, Przybyszewski pulled down the rebound and capped the run with a three-point field goal. The Commodores controlled the rest of the game through a series of similar runs. Junior defensive specialist Jason Holwerda brought the crowd to its feet with two dunks that highlighted Vanderbilt’s 15-5 run to end the Tigers’ hopes. His second dunk of the evening came off a long pass from sophomore guard Mario Moore and seemed to put an exclamation point on the Commodores’ dominating play and swarming defense in the second half. Moore finished with eight points, four assists and just one turnover. As a team, Vanderbilt had 18 assists and a season-low six turnovers. LSU, who was playing without forward Jaime Lloreda, was held to 32 percent field-goal shooting for the game. The Commodores scored 13 points off the Tigers’ 13 turnovers and outscored the LSU 30-14 in the paint. Antonio Hudson led LSU with 18 points, while Brandon Bass had a team-high eight rebounds. During halftime, Vanderbilt’s 1973-74 SEC championship team was honored. The team went 23-5 overall and 15-3 in the league. The evening began by honoring former Commodore Perry Wallace, the first African-American basketball player in Southeastern Conference history. In a pregame ceremony, he became only Vanderbilt’s second men’s basketball player to have his jersey retired. Vanderbilt returns to action on Feb. 25, when it travels to Ole Miss. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. |
