Tennessee forward Armani Moore (4) blocks a shot by LSU forward Ben Simmons (25) during an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Tennessee won 81-65. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)
Tennessee forward Admiral Schofield (5) chases a ball out of bounds past LSU forward Ben Simmons (25) during an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Tennessee won 81-65. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP)
Tennessee forward Armani Moore (4) gets to the hoop with a layup past LSU forward Craig Victor II (32) as LSU forward Ben Simmons (25) looks on during an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Tennessee won 81-65. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) 
Tennessee guard Shembari Phillips (25) drives down court past LSU guard Jalyn Patterson (15) during an NCAA college basketball game in Knoxville, Tenn., on Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016. Tennessee won 81-65. (Adam Lau/Knoxville News Sentinel via AP) KNOXVILLE – With its best player on the bench in a walking boot, Tennessee’s second-best player stepped up his game.
He wasn’t the only Volunteer to do so, either.
Without leading scorer Kevin Punter Jr., Armani Moore took over the starring role, and his teammates gave him plenty of help as Tennessee thumped LSU and superstar freshman Ben Simmons 81-65 in front of a large and lively crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena on Saturday night.
“It is coming close to the end of my career at Tennessee,” Moore said after his stat-stuffing effort, “and I’m just trying to make sure I go out with a bang and play hard each and every night.
“The rest will take care of itself.”
The senior took excellent care of his team in Punter’s absence by scoring 17 points, grabbing 10 rebounds, handing out seven assists and recording four steals and two blocked shots on defense.
Simmons was the safer bet to drop a triple-double, but Moore came much closer.
“He took it to the highest level,” Robert Hubbs III said after leading Tennessee with 19 points. “He had to guard Simmons tonight. He had to play offense, run some point, rebound. He almost had a triple-double. It’s amazing.”
Tennessee (13-14, 6-8 SEC) led for 35 minutes, and the lead never dropped into single digits after freshman Kyle Alexander scored on a rebound-and-putback and converted the three-point play with 17:01 to go.
The Vols led by as many as 19 and throughout the game played with greater energy and urgency than LSU (16-11, 9-5), which is trying to play its way into the NCAA tournament.
That it all came without Punter added the sense of surprise to the result.
“Honestly, we didn’t make a big deal about it,” first-year Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said.
“I go back to the Mississippi State game (when) we didn’t make a big deal (when Moore was out). This is what we’ve got, we’ve got to go play, we’ve got to believe in each other, we’ve got to play with a lot of emotion (and) we’ve got to play every possession. If we’ll guard, we’ll find a way. That’s kind of what we said today.”
Veterans Moore and Hubbs got help from their younger teammates. Shembari Phillips had 13 points, six rebounds and four assists, and Detrick Mostella scored 10 and hit two of Tennessee’s seven 3s. Freshman Admiral Schofield scored eight points in 15 minutes.
Barnes gave the figurative game ball to Derek Reese (two points, five rebounds and two blocks), who played double-figure minutes for just the second time in the last seven games.
“We know K.P is one of our best players and he runs our team,” Phillips said. “He’s our captain. He’s our general on the floor, so with him being out, everybody had to make it a point to step up tonight, and I think we did that.”
It was clear it was Tennessee’s night when Moore drained a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer and Hubbs tipped in Reese’s airballed shot in the span of a little more than two minutes.
Many gave Tennessee no chance of winning without Punter, but the Vols maintained their confidence after learning at Saturday morning’s shootaround that Punter wouldn’t play.
“It was high,” Phillips said. “We knew what we had to do coming into this game. We knew what we lacked because K.P wasn’t there. Everybody stepped up tonight.”
Tennessee shot nearly 65 percent and scored 50 points in the second half.
“Kevin’s a great player,” Moore said. “He can score the crap out of the ball, but it shows that there’s a lot of guys who have talent on this team. They made a statement tonight that they can score the ball and they can do some other things as well. We’ve just got to keep on pushing and make sure that this Tennessee team keeps on playing for something.”
Simmons, who’s been battling a finger problem and had two digits on his left hand taped together, finished with 21 points and nine rebounds after coming off the bench, but he turned the ball over eight times.
The Tiger were outscored by 17 points when Simmons was on the floor.
“He had eight turnovers,” Moore said, “but how many fantastic plays did he make for his teammates?”
Moore made plenty himself.
“Armani’s a great player,” Phillips said, “and I don’t think people give him enough credit.”
Contact Patrick Brown at pbrown@timesfreepress.com.