Get a recap of the Tennessee Volunteers vs. LSU Tigers basketball game.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Ja’vonte Smart capped a career-best 29-point performance with a crucial rebound and go-ahead free throws in the final seconds, and No. 13 LSU outlasted fifth-ranked Tennessee 82-80 in overtime Saturday.
Smart, a freshman who grew up near Baton Rouge, began to take over the game with about six minutes left in regulation, scoring 11 straight Tigers points to prevent Tennessee from pulling away.
Skylar Mays added 23 points, including a game-tying 3 with 1:16 left in regulation for LSU (22-5,12-2 SEC), which pulled into a tie with Tennessee atop the SEC despite playing without its leading scorer, point guard Tremont Waters .
Admiral Schofield had 27 points and Grant Williams had 18 for Tennessee (24-3,12-2), which has lost two of three after spending about a month ranked first in the nation.
Waters was ruled out with an undisclosed illness shortly before the game, and the challenge only got tougher for LSU when starting forward Naz Reid committed two early fouls.
