Vanderbilt has been feeling itself in its last nine games, with the exception of one. One that still haunts it.

After Louisiana State's 72-67 win on Wednesday night, the Commodores will now have a chance to avenge the detrimental 84-77 quad-three loss it picked up against the Tigers last month.

That Wednesday night game marked the end of a 14-game losing streak for LSU and ended a five-game winning streak for Vanderbilt.

In Vanderbilt coach Jerry Stackhouse’s mind, that game could be summed up in the word “disappointing.”

“We scored enough points, I thought we did pretty good offensively but we didn’t get the stops we needed in the second half and that was the difference in the game,” Stackhouse said of the loss in Baton Rouge.

Back in February Tigers were led by a 35-point performance by 6-foot-10 forward KJ Williams and 18 points from Adam Miller.

Stackhouse summed their performances and what they did to Vanderbilt up well.

“We knew that they had some weapons and those weapons hurt us,” said the fourth-year coach last month.

The fourth-year coach doubled down on that by calling the Tigers a “dangerous team” on Wednesday afternoon.

It remains largely the same story for Stackhouse’s team as it heads into Thursday’s matchup. Vanderbilt has to avoid the trap game to stay alive.

It would be easy for the Commodores to think about what it would take to earn an at-large bid or look ahead to Friday night’s potential matchup with Kentucky. In reality none of that matters if it crumbles in a trap game to the Tigers, though.

Coach Matt McMahon’s team has knocked off Stackhouse’s before and is capable of doing it again. LSU has the blueprint to beat Vanderbilt, especially without Liam Robbins in the lineup.

If the Tigers can be physical, outrebound Vanderbilt, and slow the flow of its offense then it could certainly send the Commodores back to campus disappointed. Again.

Last time out, LSU outrebounded Vanderbilt 40-35 while grabbing 13 offensive rebounds as opposed to Vanderbilt’s 11 and that was with Robbins on the floor for 33 minutes.

Without Robbins, its been clear that rebounding and all that comes with losing the SEC defensive player down low is what may hold the Commodores back. LSU’s physicality certainly couldn’t be described as medicine for that.

The only medicine for the challenges that LSU presents is a win. A win that proves that this team doesn’t have Vanderbilt’s number and a win that shows the edge that the Commodores possessed in eight out of their last nine.

Throughout the last month Vanderbilt has defied the odds in every way possible, its taken possession of magic, too. That can all end along with Vanderbilt’s tournament hopes on Thursday night, or it can keep the Commodores along with that magic alive for another day.

This is it. With a win Vanderbilt lives another day and will possess a warranted confidence heading into Friday night. With a loss it will be one and done with virtually no hope of sniffing the NCAA tournament.

With a win on Thursday and an upset victory over Kentucky on Friday, hope of a tournament berth would still be alive.

The Commodores sit at a crossroad again, with their back against the wall. That isn't an easy position to be in, but it's one that Stackhouse's team has thrived in.

How it responds could determine the fate of its season.