1985–86 LSU Tigers basketball team

The 1985–86 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. It is best known for being the lowest seeded team (11th) in the NCAA tournament to reach the Final Four (later matched by George Mason in 2006, VCU in 2011, Loyola–Chicago in 2018, UCLA in 2021, and NC State in 2024).[1] They remain the only 11 seed to beat the 1, 2, and 3 seeds in their region in the same tournament.

1985–86 LSU Tigers basketball
NCAA tournament, Final Four
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record26–12 (9–9 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Ron Abernathy (10th season)
  • Bo Bahnsen
  • Johnny Jones (2nd season)
Home arenaLSU Assembly Center
Seasons
1985–86 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Kentucky 17 1   .944 32 4   .889
Alabama 13 5   .722 24 9   .727
Auburn 13 5   .722 22 11   .667
Florida 10 8   .556 19 14   .576
LSU 9 9   .500 26 12   .684
Georgia 9 9   .500 17 13   .567
Vanderbilt 7 11   .389 13 15   .464
Tennessee 5 13   .278 12 16   .429
Ole Miss 4 14   .222 12 17   .414
Mississippi State 3 15   .167 6 22   .214
1986 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

Season

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The team is also remembered for overcoming numerous obstacles during that season. Star forward Jerry Reynolds had left LSU early for the NBA draft. The Tigers originally had two seven-footers and a third player near that height on their roster, but only one was available by the start of the season—6–11 Damon Vance was declared academically ineligible, and 7-1 freshman and future NBA player Tito Horford either left the team or was dismissed, depending on the source.[2][3] The other seven-footer, Zoran Jovanovich, suffered a season-ending knee injury during the team's Christmas break.[3] Two other players were declared academically ineligible—Dennis Brown, reportedly a solid engineering student, took too few courses in his major and was ruled out for the entire season, and star forward Nikita Wilson failed two courses in the fall semester, ruling him out for the spring semester.[3] As a result of these losses, Ricky Blanton switched positions from guard to center, and team captain Don Redden said at the time that the Tigers had "gone from an NBA-size team to a big junior high team."[2] The team was then hit with a chickenpox outbreak, with star forward John Williams and backup forward Bernard Woodside hospitalized for a week and the team quarantined for several days. LSU was forced to reschedule what was intended to be a nationally televised game against Auburn due to a lack of healthy players, and coach Dale Brown even went so far as to draft football player Chris Carrier as emergency cover.[2]

Roster

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1985–86 LSU Tigers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 10 Derrick Taylor 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) RS Sr Redemptorist HS Baton Rouge, LA
G 11 Anthony Wilson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Jr Plain Dealing HS Plain Dealing, LA
G 14 Edwin Wilson 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) 150 lb (68 kg) So LaGrange HS Lake Charles, LA
G 15 Ocie Conley 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 179 lb (81 kg) So Lee HS Marianna, AR
G 20 Neboisha Bukumirovich 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 181 lb (82 kg) So Medical HS, Belgrade Nikšić, Yugoslavia
G 21 Dennis Brown (I) 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 169 lb (77 kg) Jr Woodlawn HS Baton Rouge, LA
F 24 John Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 237 lb (108 kg) So Crenshaw HS Los Angeles, CA
F 25 Chris Carrier 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Eunice HS Eunice, LA
F 30 Bernard Woodside 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 207 lb (94 kg) So St. Agnes Cathedral HS Hempstead, NY
G 31 Oliver Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr University HS Baton Rouge, LA
G/F 33 Ricky Blanton 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Killian HS Miami, FL
F 41 Nikita Wilson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Leesville HS Leesville, LA
C 43 José Vargas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) So Evangelico Central La Romana, Dominican Republic
G/F 44 Don Redden (C) 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 213 lb (97 kg) Sr Ouachita HS Monroe, LA
C 45 Zoran Jovanovich 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) 247 lb (112 kg) So Fifth HS Belgrade, Yugoslavia
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster

Schedule and results

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Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Non-conference regular season
11/22/1985*
No. 14 Montana State W 84–59  1–0
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
11/27/1985*
No. 12 at Washington W 70–61  2–0
Hec Edmundson Pavilion 
Seattle, WA
11/30/1985*
No. 12 at BYU–Hawaii W 89–71  3–0
 
Laie, HI
12/01/1985*
No. 12 at Hawaii Pacific W 101–89  4–0
 
Honolulu, HI
12/02/1985*
No. 12 at Hawaii Loa W 77–68  5–0
 
Kaneohe, HI
12/03/1985*
No. 11 at Hawaii–Hilo W 70–61  6–0
 
Hilo, HI
12/14/1985*
No. 11 Hardin–Simmons W 87–71  7–0
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
12/16/1985*
No. 11 at Lamar W 74–57  8–0
Montagne Center 
Beaumont, TX
12/17/1985*
No. 9 at Texas W 72–65  9–0
Frank Erwin Center 
Austin, TX
12/20/1985*
No. 9 Southeastern Louisiana
LSU Invitational semifinal
W 82–61  10–0
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
12/21/1985*
No. 9 Southern
LSU Invitational Final
W 91–83  11–0
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
12/30/1985*
No. 9 Oral Roberts W 82–64  12–0
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
SEC regular season
01/02/1986
No. 8 Georgia W 85–73  13–0
(1–0)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
01/04/1986
No. 8 Mississippi State W 90–84  14–0
(2–0)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
01/09/1986
No. 8 at Alabama L 67–83  14–1
(2–1)
Memorial Coliseum 
Tuscaloosa, AL
01/11/1986
No. 8 at Tennessee L 77–88  14–2
(2–2)
Stokely Athletic Center 
Knoxville, TN
01/13/1986
No. 8 Ole Miss W 86–68  15–2
(3–2)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
01/18/1986
No. 14 Vanderbilt W 84–67  16–2
(4–2)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
01/22/1986
No. 14 at Florida L 65–74  16–3
(4–3)
O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, FL
01/29/1986
No. 17 No. 8 Kentucky L 52–54  16–4
(4–4)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
02/01/1986
No. 17 at Georgia L 76–92  16–5
(4–5)
Georgia Coliseum 
Athens, GA
02/02/1986*
No. 17 at Georgetown L 72–74  16–6
Capital Centre 
Landover, MD
02/04/1986
at Auburn W 63–61  17–6
(5–5)
Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, AL
02/05/1986
at Mississippi State W 68–62  18–6
(6–5)
Humphrey Coliseum 
Mississippi State, MS
02/09/1986
No. 20 Alabama L 71–80  18–7
(6–6)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
02/12/1986
Tennessee W 75–50  19–7
(7–6)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
02/15/1986
at Ole Miss L 57–58  19–8
(7–7)
Tad Smith Coliseum 
Oxford, MS
02/20/1986
at Vanderbilt W 74–68  20–8
(8–7)
Memorial Gymnasium 
Nashville, TN
02/22/1986
Florida W 80–69  21–8
(9–7)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
02/26/1986
Auburn L 86–92  21–9
(9–8)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
03/01/1986
at No. 5 Kentucky L 57–68  21–10
(9–9)
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
SEC tournament
03/06/1986
 LSN
(5) vs. (4) Florida
Quarterfinals
W 72–66  22–10
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
03/07/1986
 LSN
(5) at (1) No. 4 Kentucky
Semifinals
L 58–61  22–11
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, KY
NCAA tournament
03/13/1986*
(11 SE) vs. (6 SE) Purdue
First round
W 94–87 2 OT 23–11
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
03/15/1986*
(11 SE) vs. (3 SE) Memphis State
Second round
W 83–81  24–11
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, LA
03/20/1986*
(11 SE) vs. (2 SE) Georgia Tech
Regional semifinals
W 70–64  25–11
The Omni 
Atlanta, GA
03/22/1986*
(11 SE) vs. (1 SE) Kentucky
Regional Finals
W 59–57  26–11
The Omni 
Atlanta, GA
03/29/1986*
(11 SE) vs. (2 W) Louisville
Semifinals
L 77–88  26–12
Reunion Arena 
Dallas, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central Time.

Rankings

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[4]

References

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  1. ^ Top five lowest seeds to make the NCAA Final Four - College Basketball - Rivals.com
  2. ^ a b c Guilbeau, Glenn (March 29, 2016). "30 years ago: LSU basketball's improbable Final 4 run made headlines". New Orleans: WWL-TV. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  3. ^ a b c Wilbon, Michael (February 2, 1986). "LSU, a Team Full of Trouble, Faces Georgetown Today". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  4. ^ *ESPN College Basketball Encyclopedia: The Complete History of the Men's Game. Random House. 2009. pp. 899–900. ISBN 978-0-345-51392-2.