LSU Basketball Falls To No. 5 Tennessee, 65-59

GLENN GUILBEAU, Tiger Rag Editor

LSU would not go away after falling behind by 15 points with three minutes left and made a game of it in the final moments, but once again, it was not enough. And the Tigers lost to No. 5 Tennessee, 65-59, in front of 8,522 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Tuesday night.

The Tigers (14-14, 3-12 Southeastern Conference) shaved a 61-46 deficit at the 3:24 mark to 63-56 with 46 seconds to go on a 10-2 run that was closed by Curtis Givens III’s 3-pointer. But LSU could get no closer than the final deficit.

A larger Tennessee (23-5, 10-4 SEC) in the end wore down the Tigers and won the rebounding battle 44-28.

“We were disruptive defensively and forced some tough shots,” LSU coach Matt McMahon said. “But those long rebounds – they won a lot of those 50-50 plays.”

LSU was within 49-42 with 8:07 to play and about to get the ball after Zakai Zeigler missed a free throw, but 6-foot-11, 235-pound forward Felix Okpara got in front of 6-9, 200-pound Daimion Collins for the rebound and tip-in for a 51-42 lead.

“They got us on a free-throw box out at a key time in the game where they really muscled us on the glass there,” McMahon said. “And I thought it (rebounding) just ended up being the difference in the game.”

Both teams shot 41 percent from the field and in the high 20s from 3-point range. It was Tennessee’s 27-8 advantage in second-chance points that was the difference along with a 32-20 bulge in the paint.

Freshman guard Vyctorius Miller led LSU with a career high 17 points for an SEC game with 3-of-6 shooting from 3-point range and 6 of 11 overall. Guard Cam Carter scored 12 points in an off shooting night – 3 of 10 from the floor and 1 of 6 from 3-point range. Forward Robert Miller III scored only four points on 2-of-2 shooting, but had nine rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots.

Collins scored nine points with three rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. He missed all three of his free throws, though.

The Tigers play at No. 24 Mississippi State (19-9, 7-8 SEC) on Saturday (2:30 p.m., SEC Network). State fell at No. 6 Alabama, 111-73, on Tuesday night.