BATON ROUGE, La. — No. 13 LSU took down no. 5 Tennessee in a thrilling game at Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Saturday, 82-80.
LSU's Javonte Smart hit two free throws with less than a second remaining in overtime to seal the win for the Tigers.
With Tennessee losing, there is now a three-way tie for first place in the SEC between the Vols, LSU and Kentucky.
There were eight lead changes in the first half, with no team leading by more than six. The Tigers led by one before the Vols used a 6-0 run to take a 36-31 halftime lead. LSU did not score in the final 3:27 of the first half.
Tennessee shot 47 percent from the field in the opening half, but shot just 25 percent from three. Admiral Schofield led all players with 13 points and 6 rebounds.
The intensity continued in the second half.
ESPN reported that Jordan Bone was questionable to return to the game to start the half due to illness. However, he checked in and hit two threes. Bone finished with 13 points.
Schofield appeared to injure his leg with less than six minutes left in the game and was forced to checkout. He limped off the court and got stretched out on the sideline.
In his absence, LSU used a 7-0 run to bring the Vols' lead down to two points.
Admiral then returned to the game with Jordan Bone who had four fouls. However, LSU got within one point of the lead with 2:30 left in regulation.
Grant Williams hit two free throws to give Tennessee a three-point lead, then LSU's Skyler Mays hit a three to tie the game at 69.
Mays then hit two free throws to give the Tigers a two-point lead.
Grant Williams tied the game at 71 with a layup with 33 seconds left.
No team scored after that, sending the game into overtime.
With the game tied at 80, Javonte Smart rebounded the ball and drew a foul from Grant Williams with 0.6 on the clock. Smart knocked down both free throws to give LSU the victory.
"I was focusing on rebounding," Williams said about the foul. "I felt a shoulder go into my chin. Next thing you know I hear a whistle and they were already back down the court."
The Vols sneaked in one final shot, but it fell short as the buzzer sounded.
"I’d like to see our team do a better job at the end of the game, what we needed to see," Barnes said. "We had too many plays where you gave (up) a basket."
Tennessee had other chances to win the game as well. Jordan Bone slipped at the end of regulation while trying to set up a potential game-winning shot and Lamonte Turner missed a three in the final seconds of overtime.
Coach Barnes wasn't happy with the final offensive possession in overtime.
"We had what we wanted to do there, but Lamonte, I think from the time he got the ball, he had made up his mind that he was going to stop and pull up and shoot it, which is really not a good decision," Barnes said. “I think we have a really bad rule in college basketball where coaches can’t call timeouts in that situation. The players are so locked in to trying to play."
The overtime foul capped a rough day for Williams. He finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds, but shot just 5-14 from the field while missing a few layups.
Admiral Schofield finished with 27 points on 11-22 shooting and 3-7 from deep.
The Vols travel to Oxford, Mississippi to face Ole Miss next Wednesday.