Tennessee basketball built a 12-point first-half lead and saw it disappear within the opening minutes of the second stanza against LSU. The Vols prevailed, but continue to prove they cannot put together 40 minutes.
LSU provided a home scare for Tennessee, 73-63, at Food City Center on Saturday.
J.P. Estrella got a cut of work at the rim, posting 16 points with a majority of his makes coming on tip-in opportunities with his five offensive rebounds. Nate Ament struggled mightily with a 6-for-19 stroke from the field, but did manage a team-high 22 points.
Tennessee (18-7, 8-4 SEC) only forced three turnovers. The Tigers (14-11, 2-10) were outrebounded 45-24 by the Vols, including 16-8 on the offensive end.
Ethan Burg provides quality minutes
Burg has not been in Tennessee’s rotation since SEC play began. He played five minutes against Arkansas, but has failed to carve out a significant role ever since.
But Rick Barnes elected to give him another shot with LSU in town. And Burg delivered his strong outing yet. The Israeli native posted 8 points on 3-for-4 shooting, while turning the ball over zero times. He did commit two first-half fouls, but Barnes continued to play him.
His 10 minutes in the first half were more minutes than he’s received in seven other games he’s played in this season.
Burg’s role expanded into the second half.
When LSU cut its late second-half deficit to four points, Burg crashed the offensive glass to allow Ament to get a basket, pushing the lead back to six points. Burg finished the game with 19 minutes on the floor.
Sloppy last minute of first half
Tennessee failed to build a sizable margin in the first half, and the closing minute of the stanza did not help.
DeWayne Brown II climbed around a screener to defend a 3-point shot by Pablo Tamba — but he clipped the hand of the shooter. Tamba drilled the three and cut the margin to six points through the foul.
Tennessee called a timeout to regroup for a final offensive possession. Ament began his drive with three seconds left, getting the ball knocked away. With 0.2 seconds on the shot clock, Tennessee could not get another shot off the inbound and turned it over.
LSU carried the fight into the second half, drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to tie the game at 35-all two minutes in.
Tennessee pulls away midway through second half
LSU carried the fight for 30 minutes, but Tennessee had answers after that.
It came because Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Ament stepped up. Ament earned an and-one opportunity — in which he converted — with 11:55 remaining, and that’s when the Vols began to separate. Tennessee went on a 13-4 run to build an eight-point lead.
Gillespie, who drilled the first shot of the game and then did not have another make the rest of the half, sprayed in a pair of 3-point shots during the run. J.P. Estrella sprinkled in a pair of tip-ins as well to create distance.
Tennessee’s margin simmered back to four points at one point, but LSU never clawed all the way back.
The Vols are back in action with Oklahoma on deck Feb. 18.
