# 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). They remain the only 11 seed to beat the 1, 2, and 3 seeds in their region in the same tournament.

## Season

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. The other seven-footer, Zoran Jovanovich, suffered a season-ending knee injury during the team's Christmas break. 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. 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." 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.

## Schedule and results

| 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 $^{2OT}$ | 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. ||||||