It wasn’t pretty, but the Tigers will take it.LSU (16-4, 4-1) led by as many 14 points in Wednesday night’s 79-73 win against Tennessee (12-7, 3-2) but had to fend off a furious second-half rally by the Volunteers down the stretch.The Tigers held a 61-47 lead with 12 minutes remaining in the game but allowed a 13-0 run to the Volunteers, who outscored LSU 22-7 over a nine-minute span. A  timely burst from senior guard Marcus Thornton put LSU back on top, and a late steal from senior guard Garrett Temple secured the margin of victory.”Very, very good win. We did a really good job of keeping our poise,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “Tennessee shot the ball well … They were hurting us on the perimeter, and they were hurting us in the post … It’s a good win because we weren’t at our best, but we were good enough, and that had a lot to do with their poise and their composure in a crucial stretch.”LSU managed to out-rebound the Vols, 32-30, although senior forward Quintin Thornton, a game-time decision with an injured Achilles tendon, did not see the court.”In a game without Quintin Thornton — I didn’t want to see him out there in a game of this magnitude playing with pain — we got contributions from Storm Warren, Delwan Graham. I thought Terry Martin came in and made some good baskets,” Johnson said. “For us to play in stretches without [junior forward] Tasmin [Mitchell], who was in foul trouble and withoutGarrett, who was in foul trouble, I thought it was a really good win.”Marcus Thornton’s 29 points led all scorers and marked his third consecutive performance with at least that many, continuing a white-hot scoring streak dating back to LSU’s Jan. 21 thrashing of Mississippi State. In the past seven days, Thornton is shooting 56 percent from the field and 50 percent from 3-point range.Senior center Chris Johnson came up with his biggest game of conference play. The 6-foot-11-inch senior notched 12 points and grabbed 13 rebounds on the way to his seventh double-double of the season. He added four blocks, the last one denying Tennessee the lead with 45 seconds to play.”I told them, ‘Guys I’m excited in my own way, but I fully expected to come in here and win, and I know you guys to a man did too,'” Johnson said. “Let’s enjoy the plane ride back and get ready for class tomorrow.”The win marks the Tigers’ second straight road win, offsetting an 0-3 start to the road schedule. Tennessee started the season as the favorite to win the Southeastern Conference but is 3-5 in the month of January. —-Contact David Helman at [email protected]