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
NCAA tournament, Elite Eight
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	24–15 (8–10 SEC)
Head coach	Dale Brown (15th season)
Assistant coaches	Ron Abernathy (11th season) Bo Bahnsen Johnny Jones (3rd season)
Home arena	LSU Assembly Center
Seasons ← 1985–86 1987–88 →

1986–87 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	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

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 33 Ricky Blanton  6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Miami Killian Miami, FL 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) 205 lb (93 kg) Fr Denham Springs HS Denham Springs, 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 Dale Brown (Minot State) Assistant coach(es) Ron Abernathy (Morehead State) Bo Bahnsen (LSU) Johnny Jones (LSU) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

^[4]

Schedule and results

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

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.