Tennessee basketball got off to a screaming start against LSU on Wednesday before slowing in the second half.
The stalling didn’t matter as the Vols ran off to a 88-68 win. Dalton Knecht led No. 6 Tennessee (17-5, 7-2 SEC) to the win with 27 points.
Zakai Zeigler continued his dominant play at point guard with 17 points and nine assists to cap off the win.
Here are three takeaways from the win.
Tennessee gets dominated on the boards
Tennessee did not have a good night rebounding, to say the least.
The Vols were out-rebounded 40-26 when it was all said and done. The Tigers grabbed 18 offensive rebounds which resulted in 20 second-chance points.
“I just know that we had our hands on a couple of them,” Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes said. “I thought we were trying to rebound the ball with one hand. We can’t do that. I think you have to give credit (to LSU), they did a great job. … We got to grab it. We got to secure the ball with two hands.”
The Tigers’ second-chance points are largely what allowed them to cut the lead to single digits late in the second quarter. They ran out of gas, though, and Tennessee was able to come away with the win.
Tennessee starts hot from beyond the arc
Tennessee started the game on a 15-1 with almost any shot following for the Vols. LSU couldn’t find a solution.
By halftime, Tennessee boasted a 50-27 lead over the Tigers. That lead included the Vols shooting 9-of-14 from 3-point, hitting their most treys in a half this season.
“When we’re open, we got to shoot the ball,” Barnes said. “We’ve got to shoot it and, and then we’ve gotta do a better job of rebounding the ball on both ends.”
Jordan Gainey shot 4-of-5 in the first half with a couple of 3-pointers falling down on his way to a season-high 18 points.
Zeigler got a trio of 3-pointers to fall with contest.
The 3-point shooting got Tennessee off to a fiery start and showed no apparent hangover from the big ranked win at Kentucky.
Slowing in the second half
As energetic and quick the start was in the first half, the second half saw the exact opposite result. Tennessee was outscored 41-38 by LSU in the second half.
The shooting percentage didn’t drop off by much — with the Vols hitting at a 52% clip — but LSU took six more shots than Tennessee.
“When they cut the lead in, we definitely had to make sure we tightened up and be very detailed,” Knecht said. “They were rebounding a lot of second-chance points, so we made sure to hit the backboard and rebound the basketball.”
LSU eventually ran out of steam following its 17-2 run that cut the Tennessee lead. The Vols responded with a 7-0 run to end the game and earn the win.
Extra, extra
More important than what Gainey is doing on the offensive end was his defensive contribution. He picked up three steals and finished plus-14 during his time on the floor.
Freshmen Cameron Carr and J.P. Estrella got on the floor again early against LSU. Neither scored a point, and Carr shot 0-for-3 from the field, but their early minutes show the confidence Barnes has in his freshmen.
