It took 56 days, but it’s finally over.

LSU basketball was able to break its historic 15-game losing streak with a 92-82 win against Tennessee.

The Tigers (10-19, 2-15 Southeastern Conference) accomplished the win on senior night, honoring forwards Brandon Eddlestone and Brian Bridgewater, and did it with sophomore guard Antonio Blakeney having an off night.

Blakeney only scored six points, which was a season-low for the 6-foot-4 shooting guard. Despite his lackluster performance, junior guard Jalyn Patterson and sophomore Brandon Sampson picked up the slack.

Sampson led the way for LSU pouring in a career-high 24 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, with Patterson adding a career-high 22 points.

“I was just poised and wanted to take smart shots,” Sampson said. “I just kept playing hard.”

The lead went back and forth in the first half between the two teams with Tennessee taking a 46-42 lead at the break. LSU was able to hold the turnovers to a minimum allowing just five in the first half and three in the second half.

A second half surge allowed LSU to take control of the game.

The Tigers started the second half on a 16-5 run to take the lead in the opening five minutes, thanks to a big three from Sampson.

LSU coach Johnny Jones was happy with the effort from the start and said the two seniors helped set the tone early.

“It was a great effort by our guys tonight,” Jones said. “I thought the tone was set for us in the beginning of the game with our two seniors. It was great to have a chance to walk in there and see the looks on these guys’ faces, even on the sideline before getting to the locker room.”

The Tigers held Tennessee without a field goal for eight minutes of the second half starting at the 18 minute mark with the Vols going 0-for-12 from the field.

Jones said he had not seen that kind of defense from his team all year.

“That hasn’t happened,” Jones said. “We’ll probably watch film tomorrow on the 14 minutes there. I thought these guys did a great job of digging in.”

Turnovers turned into LSU favor in the second half with Tennessee committing 14 turnovers and LSU converting 17 points off those turnovers.  

LSU only had seven turnovers total in the game, the lowest since November 12 when the Tigers played Wofford.
LSU will close out the regular season on Saturday where the Tigers travel to Starkville to take on Mississippi State at 5:00 p.m.