BATON ROUGE — Tennessee shot nearly 70 percent from the field in the second half to break a halftime tie and defeat the LSU men’s basketball team, 78-63, on Wednesday night at the Maravich Center.
LSU (21-9, 10-7 SEC) fell into a tie with Georgia for fifth place in the league standings with one game to play prior to the SEC Tournament. It was LSU’s first double-digit loss of the 2014-15 season.
Tennessee (15-14, 7-10 SEC), which dropped an 18-point decision to the Tigers on Valentine’s Day in Knoxville, turned the tables on LSU with a nearly flawless final stanza.
Guard Keith Hornsby led the way for the Tigers, scoring a career-high 25 points on 6-of-11 shooting including five three pointers and a perfect 8-for-8 at the free throw line. Forward Jarell Martin added 16 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Tim Quarterman finished with 10 points and seven assists after registerting a triple double last time out.
The Tigers cap the 2015 regular season with a trip to Fayetteville to face Arkansas on Saturday. Tipoff is set for 1 p.m. CT on ESPN, with pregame on the LSU Sports Radio Network beginning at 12:30. After facing the Razorbacks, LSU will learn its SEC Tournament seed, opponent, and game time. The tournament begins March 11 in Nashville, however, LSU has earned at least one day off.
Tennessee’s Josh Richardson led four Vols in double figures scoring with 20 points on 9-of-15 shooting. Armani Moore added 19 points and eight rebounds, while Robert Hubbs III and Kevin Punter scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.
| SEC Standings, Schedule, Tournament | |||
| Pos. | Team | SEC | Overall |
| 1. | Kentucky | 17-0 | 30-0 |
| 2. | Arkansas | 12-4 | 23-6 |
| t3. | Texas A&M | 11-6 | 20-9 |
| t3. | Ole Miss | 11-6 | 20-10 |
| t5. | LSU | 10-7 | 21-9 |
| t5. | Georgia | 10-7 | 19-10 |
| t7. | Florida | 8-9 | 15-15 |
| t7. | Vanderbilt | 8-9 | 18-12 |
| 9. | Alabama | 7-10 | 17-13 |
| t9 | Tennessee | 7-10 | 15-14 |
| t11 | South Carolina | 5-11 | 14-14 |
| 12. | Mississippi St. | 5-12 | 12-18 |
| 13. | Auburn | 4-13 | 12-18 |
| 14. | Missouri | 3-14 | 9-21 |
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All times Central Upcoming Schedule SEC Tournament Schedule | Home Wed., March 11 |
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The Vols made 18-of-26 second-half shots (69.2 percent) and finished 33-of-63 (52.4 percent) from the field. Meanwhile, LSU took 16 fewer shots and made only 40.4 percent from the field (19 of 47). The Tigers kept the game close by attempting 24 free throws to Tennessee’s seven. The Vols didn’t make a free throw until the 3:12 make of the second half.
LSU made 3-of-4 field goals to open a 7-3 lead, but Tennessee responded with next five consecutive baskets to score 11-straight points and lead 14-7. With 14:11 remaining in the half, Quarterman hit a baseline jumper to end a four-minute drought and start an 11-0 LSU run that put the Tigers ahead, 18-14.
Tennessee broke a 1-for-11 shooting string to get within a basket, 20-18, and tied the game at 24-24 with two second-chance baskets. Hornsby and Richardson traded three pointers to keep the game tied at 27-27, but Tennessee pushed its lead to four with baskets on its next two possessions.
By hustling down the court, Hornsby earned four free throws by getting fouled in transition to keep the game tied at 33-33 at halftime.
Hornsby led LSU with 12 first-half points including six free throws, while Richardson scored 14 points for the Vols on 6-of-11 shooting. The Tigers were 10-of-13 from the line while the Volunteers didn’t attempt a free throw in the half. However, Tennessee took 15 more field goals than LSU by virtue of 11 offensive rebounds.
While LSU struggled offensively – 3-of-12 shooting with five turnovers – Tennessee made 12-of-17 shots with five three-pointers to build an 18-point advantage, 62-44, with 8:30 remaining.
The Tigers cut the deficit to 11 but got no closer in the final four minutes.
LSU Men’s Basketball v. Tennessee
March 4, 2015
LSU HEAD COACH JOHNNY JONES
Opening Statement …
“We needed to come out tonight and really establish ourselves early against a team that at halftime a couple of weeks ago, we went in with a 27-point lead and wound up putting them on their heels. We came back out in the second half with enough to win the game. Tonight, we had to fight to get the score tied. Prior to the half, I thought Tennessee was a confident basketball team. I thought in the second half we needed to come out and try to take control early. I thought they came out and played extremely well—making shots. We didn’t get them to turn it over. We couldn’t get them to stop. They made a lot of individual plays and shot practically 70 percent in the second half, which made it very difficult for us when we did not execute at the level that we needed to on the offensive end. They had 63 shots off of our 47. They had 33 made baskets compared to our 19. I thought they did an excellent job of making individual plays with only 11 assists.”
On the difference in the game …
“I think they spread us out. They got down into the shot clock. They made plays at the rim by driving. They were extremely patient. When we did try to help off, they had other guys step up to make shots. I thought they executed at an unbelievable level in the second half.”
On Tennessee outshooting them and winning the battle in the paint …
“Well, they ran a 2-3 zone, a matchup zone, and we just didn’t knock down shots. At their place, I thought we shot an unbelievable percentage in the first half of the game. Tonight, shots didn’t go down for us. 47 (FG) is a good number, but we only shot 37.5 percent in the second half. Allowing them to shoot 70 (percent) put a lot of pressure on us. We didn’t do a great job of getting the ball inside. They wound up beating us in paint points, 36 to 20. That’s a big discrepancy. We’ve got the size and strength and that’s where we want the ball. They did a great job of getting the ball in the paint and they got 11 offensive rebounds in the first half. When they were shooting a low percentage, they did a great job of getting to the glass. We didn’t do a great job of blocking out, which allowed them to get some easy scoring opportunities.”
On Tennessee double-teaming the post men …
“A lot of people have doubled us. I thought they did a great job of coming down, and we tried to get the ball out of there. We knew that they were coming. They always double the post anytime we go to the short corner. Jarrell (Martin) wound up getting four turnovers and (Jordan) Mickey got zero. He’s generally the one getting a lot in the double teams. We didn’t get the ball out like we needed to initially and make plays, but we finished tonight with only 11 turnovers.”
On going to Arkansas on Saturday …
“We were going to have pressure had we won here tonight. Not necessarily pressure, but you still want to go into Arkansas and play well. It’s the next game on our schedule. We certainly did not play up to par tonight making plays. We played against a team that I thought executed extremely well, and we didn’t get them stopped. We’ve got to go to Arkansas, put this game behind us, learn from what transpired here tonight and make sure we go up there and play well.”
On Tennessee establishing themselves early in the second half …
“Coming into halftime we made a run, tied it at 33 and knew that we should be able to do a great job. We’re a good second-half basketball team, but I thought they did a great job of establishing themselves early. They were making shots. We never could break their rhythm, in terms of the plays they were making. They saw that gap and made an opening. They hit a couple three’s. They got a three-point play and a four-point play during that stretch, and it was just difficult to overcome.”
On Tennessee’s great shooting in the second half and picking up their play …
“They had a second half that was possibly like the first half that we had at their place a couple of weeks ago. Any time you shoot the ball 70 percent like that, and I think 60 percent (5-of-8) from the three in the second half, that’s a big number for that team. They’re a good defensive basketball team. They had not been playing well and teams had been scoring a lot easier against them than we did tonight. We did not score tonight like teams have been by exploiting their zone.”
LSU GUARD TIM QUARTERMAN
On how tough it was to score against their defense…
“We had a tough time tonight, they pressured the ball well. They executed when it mattered. “
When asked if they overlooked this team…
“We were not thinking about that. Every team in this conference is tough. You have to go out there every night like it’s your last game and leave it out on the floor. They made a ton of good plays tonight. They made many contested three’s. They made tough shots around the basket; unfortunately we couldn’t do the same.”
On the unusual amount of points in the paint…
“They did a good job of trapping our post players tonight. They battles hard. We just didn’t get enough opportunities at the basket tonight. They also did a good job of help-side defense tonight.”
LSU GUARD KEITH HORNSBY
On his reaction after tonight …
“Very disappointed right now. It’s hard to really dive into it, but they came in and played great. They shot 70% and played a better game.”
On the aggressiveness of Tennessee…
“They did a good job. Probably one of the toughest double teams I’ve seen all year as far as people diving down in the post. I don’t think the guards did a good enough job of relocating after our post were getting double teamed.“
On the confidence level of Tennessee…
“Confident SEC teams are always hard to stop. They did a good job of playing together. They took advantage of every good opportunity they had. “
On halftime adjustments…
“We didn’t come into the game with a easy mindset. We came in focused and it seemed like we were ready to play a great game. Things started to not go our way in the first half and we respond exactly how we would have liked. They played great tonight.”
Tennessee Head Coach Donnie Tyndall
Opening statement …
“First of all I want to give credit to the LSU team. That is an outstanding team and when they came to our place they dominated that game. I gave them the credit and they deserved the credit but that first half was probably our worst half of the year and probably the only half all year where I do not feel like we competed and played like ourselves. We have obviously been struggling but I think there are components of our team that are showing progress and I thought tonight in particular our young big guys, Tariq [Owens] and Willie [Carmichael III], did some nice things although it may not show up huge in the stat line. We did not give up second shots to a really big and athletic front-line team. I thought we did a great job, maybe our best job all year, sharing the basketball and making extra passes. A couple times late in the clock it was huge.”
On Tennessee attacking the basket…
“We really talked about it the last couple of days. We talked about playing in attack mode and not settling for jump shots. Driving it and even though we did not get to the foul line, we did get in the paint a bunch which lead to some draw-and-kick opportunities and in some cases we converted at the rim.”
On the free-throw discrepancy…
“I think the biggest thing is [LSU] is not a super deep team. Coach [Johnny] Jones probably tells them to be really cautious in regard to following on the dribble because a lot of times the two big guys at the back of the play are changing and blocking the shot. They probably are pretty well coached in regard to playing without fouling due to their limited depth. Tonight we had more blocked shots than they did.”
On what the win means for Tennessee…
“It really does not change anything I have said this entire season. We understand the circumstances we have. I have said this, and I mean it, I would not trade my team for any team in the league because of how coachable they are and how hard they work. We understand we have some deficiencies and we will grow our program as we move forward but our team has competed. We played 29 games now and we have competed for 28 and a half of those games. Sometimes the ball goes in and sometimes it does not. I thought tonight we played well offensively which always helps, particularly on the road. It is just another game in regard to getting better and improving and hopefully we will continue on into Saturday against South Carolina.”
Tennessee Forward Armani Moore
On Moore’s game…
“It feels good to finally get a bounce back (win). We’ve been fighting hard and practicing. It’s been tough on us as a team, but we stayed together and we all prayed about it and it’s going to turn around.”
On one-on-one playing against LSU defenders …
“That was one of the important key factors in this game tonight. Coach [Donnie Tyndall] said that eventually they [LSU] are going to bow down. I think they had at least four guys who played over 35 minutes tonight. I think that was a big key for us, because only one of our guys played 35 minutes and that was Josh Richardson. You know that if you keep these guys in for this long, and you’re pressuring them on the defensive side of the ball eventually they will wear down and we can end up doing some good things on offense.”
On aggressiveness…
“We did a great job trusting our teammates tonight. That is one thing Coach preaches to our team about – ‘trust your teammates.’ You get in the lane and you don’t have a clear for anything then kick it out to your teammates and trust him to make the dribble drive and take the kick.’ So, I think we did a great job tonight … If you do that each and every game, you should have no problem winning the ball game.”
On comparison of shots…
“That is a key part of the game. At the beginning of the season we came out and we were aggressive, but we were a little too aggressive. We were causing too many fouls. I think we are definitely doing a better job now, and getting to these guys, not fouling so much and not putting them on the line. Then on the flip side of the ball, on the offensive side, we are getting into the lane, penetrating and drawing fouls, kicking them out, taking great shots and taking them to the basket.”
On LSU’s struggle…
“Once you keep doing that, and their guys playing so many minutes, you can’t really be aggressive because you know your team will end up needing you at the end of the ballgame. We knew that and knew how many fouls we had. That’s what our assistant coaches do on the sideline, they tells us that this guy has ‘x’ amount of fouls so you try to drive the ball and go at him and make sure you foul him. My team did a great job tonight finding me and getting me the ball and I was able to execute.”
On passes and steals…
“I think Kevin [Punter] and Josh [Richardson], especially Kevin, did a great job getting into the passing lane. Even if we don’t steal the ball it still gets into your head that we can’t make a pass and it discourages you when you see somebody dribble the ball every time you try to steal it. Like I said earlier, if we can play like this each and every game, I don’t have any doubt about this team at all.”
On momentum for last game…
“I’m going to try and play that game and send the seniors out the right way. We just have to come out and play like we did tonight.”