Not even the home court of the Pete Maravich Assembly Center could save LSU from dropping its third straight game.
A combination of missed free throws by LSU in the last two minutes of the second half and clutch shooting by Tennessee, was enough to propel the Volunteers (10-10, 3-4 Southeastern Conference) over the Tigers (12-8, 2 5), 61-58, before a crowd of 8,789 Wednesday night.
Tennessee forward Vincent Yarbrough poured in 24 points and guard Jon Higgins added 10, including a three-pointer with 39 seconds with LSU trailing 55-53, that sealed the win for the Volunteers. Two missed free throws by Torris Bright and one missed free throw by Collis Temple III, set up the three from Higgins.
Ronald Dupree led LSU with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Temple and Bright were also in double-digits, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively.
“We defended [Tennessee] pretty well for the most part, with the exception of Yarbrough, who made some terrific shots — some shots that I thought were very well defended,” said LSU coach John Brady. “We had some opportunities to take the lead. We just missed some nice shots there to tie the game or take the lead. They made some plays at the end, and we didn’t make enough plays.
“Credit Tennessee for making the plays at the end that were good enough to win the game. They put themselves in position to win.”
Yarbrough — who came into Wednesday’s game leading the SEC in scoring with 18.0 points per game — burned the LSU zone defense in the first half with 16 points and four three-pointers.
In the second half, LSU switched to a man-to-man defense, which limited him to eight points although he still created problems for the Tigers.
“Dang, we fouled him on a couple of [the three-pointers], and he still made them,” Brady said. “Sometimes the other player is too good at that particular time.”
Brady said before the game he thought if LSU would rebound the ball well, the team would have an opportunity to win. LSU did outrebound the Volunteers 36-28, including 15 offensive boards.
“We outrebounded them, which is a good stat for us against that team. We did some good things from an execution standpoint, and I’m not disappointed in that either,” Brady said. “I thought we had enough good shots and opportunities to win the game. We just didn’t do it.”
Tennessee shot 9-of-19 from behind the three-point arch, while LSU shot 7-of-22 from downtown.
The teams were about even in overall field goal percentage, with Tennessee at 42.9 percent and LSU at 40.4 percent.
The Tigers did hit 64.3 percent of their free throws compared to the Volunteers 55.6 percent.
The loss was LSU’s first home defeat this season.
“I think we’ll practice well the next couple of days, and I think we’ll play Alabama a good game with a chance to win,” Brady said. “I’ll be surprised if we don’t.”
LSU takes the floor next against Alabama Saturday night at 7 p.m. In the PMAC.
Britni vs. Wally
It only took three pitches for All-American softball pitcher Britni Sneed to strikeout All-SEC third baseman Wally Pontiff at half time. Pontiff looked at the first strike, before tipping the second pitch. Pontiff looked as strike three blew by him.
Graham Thomas