Tennessee obviously isn’t the only Southeastern Conference men’s basketball program allowed to have freshman standouts this season.
While newcomer guards Jaden Springer and Keon Johnson continued to produce Saturday afternoon for the No. 16 Volunteers, they were upstaged by LSU freshman guard Cameron Thomas inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center in Baton Rouge. Thomas entered the showdown leading the SEC with 22.4 points per game and did nothing to hurt that, dropping 25 on Tennessee during a 78-65 victory for Will Wade’s Tigers.
“You’ve got to give him credit. He got his numbers,” Tennessee coach Rick Barnes said of the 6-foot-4, 210-pounder out of Oak Hill (Virginia) Academy. “He’s a tough guy to guard. He’s a very aggressive shot-seeker, and I wish we had guys on our team who would do that. Some players you almost have to beg to do that, while other guys you may have to beg not to do it as much, but you’ve got to give him credit, because that’s in his DNA.
“He’s an offensive, aggressive player who has a variety of things that he does. He’s got his little step back. He’s a terrific free-throw shooter, and they put him in a position to where he can be most effective. I don’t think our freshmen are much different, but they’re just maybe not to that high a level of wanting to just score. He wants to go get buckets.”
AP photo by Gerald Herbert / Tennessee mens’ basketball coach Rick Barnes shouts from the sideline during Saturday’s SEC game at LSU.In defeating the Vols for a third consecutive season, LSU shot 51.9% from the floor (27-of-52) while holding Tennessee to just 35.5% shooting (22-of-62). The Tigers improved to 13-6 overall and 8-4 in league play, pushing past the Vols (14-5, 7-5) in the SEC race.