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.
Thomas was at his best with LSU holding a 59-49 lead at the under eight-minute timeout. The Tigers drew up an inbound play to Thomas that resulted in a layup, foul and free throw to extend their advantage to 62-49, and a Thomas layup in transition at the 7:07 mark made it a 64-49 game.
A Thomas jumper with 5:17 left gave LSU its largest lead at 68-51, and the Vols never got within single digits the rest of the way.
"He's a very talented player, and we knew going into the game that he was going to score the ball and get shots up," Tennessee sophomore Josiah-Jordan James said. "We just tried to contain him and did a good job of that in the first half, but he wound up getting to the foul line and getting to the spots where he wants to shoot it.
"He's talented, and we didn't get the job done as a team today on him."
Junior guard Davonte Smart added 20 points for the Tigers, with junior forward Darius Days chipping in 14. A Smart layup gave LSU its biggest first-half lead at 28-16, but a pair of Johnson 3-pointers helped Tennessee close on a 10-3 run to pull within 31-26 at the break.
AP photo by Gerald Herbert / LSU guard Eric Gaines, right, shoots against Tennessee's Keon Johnson during the second half of Saturday's game in Baton Rouge, La.Springer led the Vols with 21 points and has eclipsed 20 in three straight games, while sophomore guard Santiago Vescovi added 13 and Johnson 10.
Senior forward Yves Pons returned to Tennessee's starting lineup after sitting out Wednesday night's 89-81 win over Georgia with knee soreness, and he was joined in the first five by Vescovi, Springer, Johnson and James. That lineup resulted in senior forward John Fulkerson coming off the bench for the first time this season.
Fulkerson, who scored 15 points in consecutive games last month against Vanderbilt and Florida, was held to four points Saturday and has tallied just 38 points in the past seven games (a 5.4-point average) and eight in the past three (2.7). Another former starter, redshirt junior guard Victor Bailey Jr., led the Vols in scoring through the first six games (13.2) but encountered his first scoreless performance this season.
"We need those guys. We do," Barnes said. "When they go in, they're going to have to be productive."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524. Follow him on Twitter @DavidSPaschall.