BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA - Collis Temple III was ill, but LSU looked the healthiest it has in a long time. <br>
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Temple spent Tuesday and Wednesday in bed with a virus. His head hurt, his stomach ached, but he scored 19 points, making 5 of 6 3-point attempts, to lead LSU to a 79-60 victory over Vanderbilt Wednesday night. <br>
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``It didn't affect my eye,'' Temple said. <br>
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Temple led the Tigers' first-half barrage in which LSU made 8 of 10 3-pointers and held Vanderbilt scoreless for 14 minutes. <br>
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``Collis got us off to a good start and he did a great job,'' LSU coach John Brady said. ``It was good to see him get some baskets.'' <br>
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LSU (14-8, 3-7 Southeastern Conference) had lost 6-of-7 conference games over the past 25 days, including five straight when they averaged less than 24 percent from the arc. Against Vanderbilt the Tigers made 67 percent of the 3-point attempts (10-15). <br>
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``We took some open shots and that's what we need to do,'' Torris Bright said. ``It was nice to see them fall.'' <br>
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The loss was the third straight for Vanderbilt (10-11, 3-7), which has lost all eight of its road games this season. <br>
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``It's a tough league and a tough time for our team,'' said Vanderbilt coach Kevin Stallings. ``We have to get back to playing the way we can.'' <br>
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Bright scored 17 for LSU, Ronald Dupree added 16 and Antonio Hudson had 12. <br>
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Matt Freije, Vanderbilt's leading scorer, didn't start, and Stallings hoped the move would spark the Commodores' defense. Freije came off the bench to score 27 points. Brian Thornton scored 12 Vandy. <br>
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The Commodores were more aggressive on defense in the second half, pressing, playing man-to-man, and slowed the Tigers down. LSU shot 44 percent from the field in the second half, after shooting 59 percent in the first half. <br>
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``They did a good job in the second half,'' Dupree said. ``But the hole was so deep by then they couldn't get out.'' <br>
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Ten minutes into the game LSU was up 26-8, out shooting the Commodores 67 percent to 21 percent, and going 4-for-4 from 3-point range. <br>
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After a 3-point basket by Freije with 15:21 remaining, Vanderbilt didn't score again until Corey Smith hit a jumper with 4:22 on the clock that cut the Tigers' lead to 24 points, 40-10. Vanderbilt made just 9-of-30 first-half shots including 2 of 11 3-point attempts and had 13 turnovers. <br>
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LSU led 44-21 at halftime.
