1986–87 LSU Tigers basketball team

The 1986–87 LSU Tigers basketball team represented Louisiana State University in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) during the 1986-87 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team was coached by Dale Brown and played their home games at LSU Assembly Center in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

1986–87 LSU Tigers basketball
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Record24–15 (8–10 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Ron Abernathy (11th season)
  • Bo Bahnsen
  • Johnny Jones (3rd season)
Home arenaLSU Assembly Center
Seasons
1986–87 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 9 Alabama 16 2   .889 28 5   .848
Florida 12 6   .667 23 11   .676
Georgia 10 8   .556 18 12   .600
Kentucky 10 8   .556 18 11   .621
Auburn 9 9   .500 18 13   .581
Ole Miss 8 10   .444 15 14   .517
LSU 8 10   .444 24 15   .615
Tennessee 7 11   .389 14 15   .483
Vanderbilt 7 11   .389 18 16   .529
Mississippi State 3 15   .167 7 21   .250
1987 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP Poll

A year after becoming the lowest seeded team (11th) in the NCAA tournament to reach the Final Four, the Tigers nearly reached the Final Four for the second straight season as a double-digit seed. The Tigers finished below .500 during SEC regular season play (8–10, tied for 6th), but played terrific basketball for four consecutive days in an attempt to earn the SEC's automatic bid by nearly winning the SEC tournament. They were beaten by Alabama in the championship game, but it was enough to secure an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. As the No. 10 seed in the Midwest region, LSU beat No. 7 seed Georgia Tech, No. 2 seed Temple,[1] and No. 3 seed DePaul[2] to reach the Elite Eight – the 4th of Coach Brown’s tenure. In the Midwest regional final, eventual National champion Indiana got by LSU by a single point, 77–76.[3] The Tigers finished with a record of 24–15.

Roster edit

1986–87 LSU Tigers men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 11 Anthony Wilson 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 192 lb (87 kg) Sr Plain Dealing HS Plain Dealing, LA
G 12 Darryl Joe 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Fr Panola College Dallas, TX
G 20 Neboisha Bukumirovich 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 181 lb (82 kg) Jr Medical HS, Belgrade Nikšić, Yugoslavia
G 21 Dennis Brown 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 169 lb (77 kg) Sr Woodlawn HS Baton Rouge, LA
F 30 Bernard Woodside 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 207 lb (94 kg) Jr St. Agnes Cathedral HS Hempstead, NY
G 31 Oliver Brown 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr University HS Baton Rouge, LA
F 41 Nikita Wilson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Leesville HS Leesville, LA
F 42 Ben McDonald 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)
Fr   Baton Rouge, LA
C 43 José Vargas 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Jr Evangelico Central La Romana, Dominican Republic
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

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

Roster

[4]

Schedule and results edit

Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
Nov 21, 1986*
Texas Christian
Preseason NIT
L 74–83  0–1
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 4, 1986*
Arkansas State W 73–61  1–1
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 6, 1986*
at McNeese State W 77–62  2–1
Burton Coliseum 
Lake Charles, Louisiana
Dec 13, 1986*
No. 16 Georgia Tech W 52–49  3–1
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 16, 1986
at Florida L 75–96  3–2
(0–1)
Stephen C. O'Connell Center 
Gainesville, Florida
Dec 19, 1986*
Hardin-Simmons W 77–71  4–2
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 20, 1986*
New Orleans L 71–82  4–3
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 22, 1986
Vanderbilt L 61–63  4–4
(0–2)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Dec 29, 1986*
vs. West Virginia State
Seasider Classic
W 93–76  5–4
 
Laie, Hawaii
Dec 30, 1986*
vs. Illinois-Chicago
Seasider Classic
W 117–84  6–4
 
Laie, Hawaii
Dec 31, 1986*
vs. BYU–Hawaii
Seasider Classic
W 85–70  7–4
 
Laie, Hawaii
Jan 1, 1987*
vs. Denison W 99–45  8–4
 
Laie, Hawaii
Jan 5, 1987
at Ole Miss L 63–73  8–5
(0–3)
Tad Smith Coliseum 
Oxford, Mississippi
Jan 7, 1987
at Tennessee W 79–78  9–5
(1–3)
Stokely Athletic Center 
Knoxville, Tennessee
Jan 10, 1987
Georgia L 63–64  9–6
(1–4)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 12, 1987*
vs. No. 16 Oklahoma L 85–94  9–7
Myriad Convention Center 
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Jan 14, 1987
at No. 15 Alabama L 65–69  9–8
(1–5)
Coleman Coliseum 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Jan 18, 1987
 ABC
at Kentucky W 76–41  10–8
(2–5)
Rupp Arena 
Lexington, Kentucky
Jan 21, 1987
Florida L 51–75  10–9
(2–6)
Maravich Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 24, 1987*
Western Kentucky W 67–62  11–9
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 25, 1987
at Mississippi State W 52–50  12–9
(3–6)
Humphrey Coliseum 
Starkville, Mississippi
Jan 28, 1987
7:00 p.m., JPT
No. 18 Auburn W 75–73  13–9
(4–6)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Jan 31, 1987
at Vanderbilt L 65–66  13–10
(4–7)
Memorial Gymnasium 
Nashville, Tennessee
Feb 4, 1987
Ole Miss W 82–75  14–10
(5–7)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 7, 1987
2:00 p.m., JPT
Tennessee W 60–58  15–10
(6–7)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 9, 1987*
Northern Arizona W 70–58  16–10
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 11, 1987
7:00 p.m., JPT
at Georgia L 57–63  16–11
(6–8)
Stegeman Coliseum 
Athens, Georgia
Feb 14, 1987
No. 14 Alabama L 52–60  16–12
(6–9)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 21, 1987
Kentucky W 65–52  17–12
(7–9)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Feb 25, 1987
Mississippi State W 55–46  18–12
(8–9)
LSU Assembly Center 
Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Mar 1, 1987
 JPT
at Auburn L 62–100  18–13
(8–10)
Beard-Eaves-Memorial Coliseum 
Auburn, Alabama
SEC tournament
Mar 5, 1987*
 JPT
(7) vs. (10) Mississippi State
First round
W 68–54  19–13
The Omni 
Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 6, 1987*
 JPT
(7) vs. (2) Florida
Quarterfinals
W 72–66  20–13
The Omni 
Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 7, 1987*
 JPT
(7) vs. (3) Georgia
Semifinals
W 89–88 2OT[5] 21–13
The Omni 
Atlanta, Georgia
Mar 8, 1987*
 ABC
(7) vs. (1) No. 9 Alabama
Championship Game
L 62–69[6]  21–14
The Omni 
Atlanta, Georgia
NCAA tournament
Mar 13, 1987*
(10 MW) vs. (7 MW) Georgia Tech
First round
W 85–79  22–14
Rosemont Horizon 
Rosemont, Illinois
Mar 15, 1987*
(10 MW) vs. (2 MW) No. 8 Temple
Second Round
W 72–62  23–14
Rosemont Horizon 
Rosemont, Illinois
Mar 20, 1987*
 CBS
(10 MW) vs. (3 MW) No. 5 DePaul
Midwest Regional semifinal – Sweet Sixteen
W 63–58  24–14
Riverfront Coliseum 
Cincinnati, Ohio
Mar 22, 1987*
 CBS
(10 MW) vs. (1 MW) No. 3 Indiana
Midwest Regional Final – Elite Eight
L 76–77  24–15
Riverfront Coliseum 
Cincinnati, Ohio
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
MW=Midwest.
All times are in Central Time.

[7]

References edit

  1. ^ "LSU Knocks Off No. 8 Temple, 72-62". Orlando Sentinel. March 16, 1987. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  2. ^ "LSU Defense Ends Dream for DePaul". The Chicago Tribune. March 21, 1987. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  3. ^ "Indiana, UNLV Barely Escape to New Orleans". The Los Angeles Times. March 23, 1987. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  4. ^ "1986-87 Men's Basketball Roster". Louisiana State University Athletics. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  5. ^ "Conference Tournaments: Nevada Las Vegas Wins Easily in Final". The New York Times. March 8, 1987. Retrieved August 15, 2021.
  6. ^ "Conference Finals: Missouri Edges Kansas by 67-65". The New York Times. March 9, 1987. Retrieved August 14, 2021.
  7. ^ "2020-21 LSU Men's Basketball Record Book". Louisiana State University Athletics. Retrieved August 14, 2021.