By MARY FOSTER
AP Sports Writer
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Antonio Hudson, playing in his final game at LSU, scored 25 points to lead the Tigers to a 81-69 victory over Vanderbilt and a share of the Southeastern Conference Western Division championship.
LSU (19-8, 12-4), winners of six straight and 13 of the last 16 games, split the title with No. 9 Alabama and earned the No. 2 seed in the West in the SEC tournament next week.
It was the Tigers' first SEC regular-season championship since the 1999-2000 season. LSU went undefeated at home for the first time since 1981.
Vanderbilt (18-12, 8-8) won seven on their last 11 games hoping to parlay a late-season push into an NCAA Tournament berth.
Hudson made 5-of-7 3-point attempts and was 4-for-5 from the foul line.
Brandon Bass had his fourth straight double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. Darrel Mitchell added 16 for LSU, and Glen Davis had 13.
Mario Moore led Vandy with 30 points, Julian Terrell had 21 and Corey Smith made 11.
The Commodores, who lead the SEC in 3-pointers made per game (9.5), made only 8-of-24 against the Tigers. LSU, which ranks last in the SEC in 3-point defense, with foes hitting 38.7 percent held Vanderbilt to 33 percent.
The game was tied at 18 with 5:26 left in the first half. LSU outscored the Commodores 18-3 to lead 36-20 at the break.
Vanderbilt opened the second half with a 21-8 run to cut the Tigers lead to 44-41 on a steal and layup Dan Cage. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Moore pulled the Commodores to within in one point, 48-47 with 12:41 left.
The Tigers went on a 12-4 spree, fueled by five points from Hudson, to take a 10 point lead, 62-50, with 8:39 remaining.
Vanderbilt could come no closer than five points the rest of the game.
