Louisiana State Upsets No. 5 Vanderbilt, 72-62 : SEC: The Tigers advance to tournament championship game against No. 4 Kentucky.

Louisiana State appears to be peaking at the right time.

The Tigers upset No. 5-ranked Vanderbilt, 72-62, at Lexington, Ky., during the semifinals of the Southeastern Conference tournament Saturday.

LSU will play No. 4 Kentucky, a 92-81 winner over No. 14 Arkansas, for the tournament championship today.

“They hit a lot of big shots at big times,” Vanderbilt Coach Eddie Fogler said of LSU, which had made 60% of its shots during a quarterfinal victory over Mississippi. “They’re going to be a dangerous team in the NCAA tournament.”

Jamie Brandon scored 20 points for LSU (22-9), which continually beat Vanderbilt down the court and harassed the Commodores (26-5) into mistakes and bad shots.

“We felt we had to make them think every time down the court, so we switched up defenses on them a lot,” LSU Coach Dale Brown said. “I thought our defense was excellent. If you can stop Vanderbilt, you can play defense.

“I thought it was our best overall game of the season.”

LSU took control with a 17-3 run midway through the second half. Vanderbilt scored only two baskets in the final four minutes.

LSU made only 46% of its shots and 61% of its free throws. But the Tigers had a 38-30 rebounding lead, including 14 offensive rebounds that led to 22 points.

LSU committed only eight turnovers and made 12 steals.

Chris Lawson scored 17 points for Vanderbilt.

“The season is not over,” Vanderbilt’s Kevin Anglin said. “We will be ready to play in the NCAA tournament.” Travis Ford scored 26 points for Kentucky, which scored 17 consecutive points at the start of its game against Arkansas (20-8).

On Friday, Kentucky had scored the first 14 points in a record-breaking 101-40 rout of Tennessee.

Ford made six of seven three-point shots, and Kentucky was 10 of 20 overall against Arkansas. That helped compensate for 28 Wildcats turnovers.

“A lot of people second-guessed me on taking Travis Ford,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “I made the statement that there was no point guard in the country I would take over Travis Ford, and everybody laughed at me.

“Well, nobody is laughing anymore.”

Jamal Mashburn scored 23 points for Kentucky, which led, 42-36, at halftime.

Arkansas got no closer than two points during the second half.

Roger Crawford scored 15 points for the Razorbacks.