Jordan Wright lifts LSU to 64-63 upset of No. 11 South Carolina on the road

Jordan Wright caught fire in the final minute Saturday to lead LSU to a 64-63 upset of No. 11 South Carolina. The Tigers wing scored seven points to close out the game down the stretch, including hitting the game-winning free throws with five seconds remaining.

Wright finished the contest with 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Tyrell Ward led the team with 16 points, while Trae Hannibal was a force on the glass with 12 rebounds.

Speaking postgame on the SEC Network, Wright addressed his hot stretch to secure the win.

“That’s what I was called in here to do,” he said. “Coach (Matt McMahon) brought me in to make those type of plays. Just be that guy for us as a veteran guy. As a guy who’s been in this league for five years, it’s time I need to step up.

“Credit to the team, Tyrell really made some big shots. J-Reed carried us there and made some big shots to get some momentum going with his post play and the way he attacked the glass. Credit to Trae Hannibal. I think he had 14 or 15 rebounds. So everybody played their part and I was called in for my time to finish the game for us today.”

South Carolina forward BJ Mack hit a 3-pointer with 55 seconds remaining to put the Gamecocks up 60-57 on LSU. That’s when Wright began his scoring barrage as he drove to the basket on the ensuing possession to hit a layup and draw a foul. He made the free throw to complete the three-point play and tie the game up once again.

South Carolina once again answered with a 3-pointer from Ta’Lon Cooper to go back up, but Wright came down and hit a layup to cut the deficit back down to one. LSU needed a couple of defensive stops and got one when Ward came up with a steal. That allowed Wright to go down and pick up a foul, being sent to the line with a chance to give LSU the lead.

He did just last, and the Tigers were just one more defensive stop away from the win. They got it as Jacobi Wright missed another 3-point attempt that would have won the game.

“Just communicate,” Write said of the message on the final play. “We wanted to switch on the ball screens and when the screens came together we wanted to switch. So just communicate and we knew if we got in a bad way, we had fouls to give. So that’s what Tyrell did. He fouled right there.

“Then the last play, we did a really good job of guarding it live. We knew it was coming. We scouted it all week. We knew they were trying to throw it to the freshman, Boyles. J-Reed did a really good job of getting over the screen and then Tyrell forced Jacobi Wright to shoot a tough shot in the corner and he missed it.”

The win completed a 16-point comeback for LSU, which improved to 13-12 (5-7 SEC). It also marked the Tigers’ first road victory against a top 25 team since 2019 and snapped a three-game losing streak.

LSU will hope the momentum from the big win can carry over into its next contest against No. 22 Kentucky at 8 p.m. CT on Wednesday.

“It feels great,” Wright said. “We know the work we put in. It was a hard two days for us, I’m not gonna lie. Coach really got onto us and laid into us. It was time for us to get a win. It was time for us to beat a good team. We came in and we executed down the stretch. We fought, we got stops defensively, we rebounded the ball and we did what we needed to do to win the game.”