NASHVILLE - The University of Tennessee men's basketball team overcame a woeful start today to defeat LSU, 59-49, in a first-round Southeastern Conference tournament game at Bridgestone Arena.
Tennessee (24-7, 11-5) advanced to play Ole Miss (21-9, 9-7) in a Friday quarterfinal.
The Volunteers broke open a tie game midway through the second half, taking a 46-34 lead when senior wing J.P. Prince slammed home a Bobby Maze lob.
LSU (11-20, 2-15) finally made some shots late in the second half, but Tigers guard Aaron Dotson missed a layup with less than one minute left that kept the Tigers' deficit at 54-49.
Maze made nine of 10 free throws in the final 2:02 to help UT preserve the win.
Neither team shot better than 37 percent from the floor of an ugly game. The Vols shot 4-for-23 from 3-point range and had 17 turnovers, while the Tigers shot 3-for-16 from long range and had 16 turnovers.
Senior forward Wayne Chism led the Vols with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Maze's big finish helped him to 14 points, while Prince added 11 points. The Vols rallied late in an ugly first half to tie the Tigers at 21-all at the break.
Chism led all scorers in the first half with 10 points on 3-for-4 shooting, but the rest of the Vols shot a combined 4-for-23.
Sophomore forward Storm Warren started strong and led LSU with eight first-half points, but the Tigers shot just 10-for-28 as a team. Warren finished with 18 points.
Chism's early 3-pointer was the only one for either team in the first 20 minutes. The Vols and Tigers shot a combined 1-for-16 behind the arc. UT had eight turnovers.
LSU led 17-10 with less than five minutes left in the half, but the Vols crashed the offensive glass to level the score. Chism was fouled on an offensive put-back attempt with 0.6 seconds left in the half, and he made the first of two free throws to tie the score.
Alabama rallied from an 18-point, second-half deficit to South Carolina, 68-63 in the day's first game. The Crimson Tide will play Kentucky in Friday's first quarterfinal matchup.
See Friday's Times Free Press for more coverage.
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