LSU basketball struggles early, comeback bid falls flat against Tennessee on Wednesday

mikey dilullo, lafayette daily advertiser

Thu, Feb 8, 2024, 3:25 AM·2 min read

LSU basketball had some positive momentum following last weekend's win over Arkansas, and had a chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the college basketball season facing a top-10 opponent in the Tennessee Volunteers.

Instead, the Tigers fell to the Volunteers on Wednesday night, 88-68.

LSU (12-10, 4-5 SEC) stumbled out of the starting block as Tennessee scored the game's first 13 points. The Volunteers (17-5, 7-2) kept at least a double-digit lead for a majority of the rest of the first half.

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In the second half, LSU saw the deficit increase even more, at one point trailing by 26. The Tigers showed some gumption, though, going on a 13-0 run and at one point clawing their way back within eight points.

After a Tennessee timeout with about seven minutes left in regulation, the Volunteers found their shooting touch again to stretch the lead back to 20 as LSU suffered through one last cold stretch from the floor before the final buzzer.

Tennessee's Zakai Zeigler (5) moves to the basket while guarded by LSU's Mike Williams III (2) during an NCAA college basketball game on Wednesday, February 7, 2024 in Knoxville, Tenn.

Jalen Cook, Trae Hannibal injured

The redshirt junior guard was demoted to the bench on Saturday, and was again left out of the starting lineup Wednesday night, albeit for a different reason: Cook injured his hamstring during warm-ups and was held out for precautionary reasons.

In his place, Trae Hannibal started his second consecutive game. However, even he had an injury scare. Hannibal landed awkwardly after going up for a rebound and spent a few minutes in the locker room, but returned.

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Jordan Wright uncharacteristically off

Entering Wednesday, the fifth-year senior had scored in double digits in 20 of 21 games this season, including 18 straight since a four-point outing against Dayton back in November. Against Tennessee, it came to an end. Wright struggled offensively all night on Wednesday, making just 3-of-16 shots including 1-of-7 from beyond the arc, finishing with just nine points.

Shooting streak ends

On Saturday, LSU set a new program record by making at least 10 three-pointers for the fifth straight game. On Wednesday, the record-setting run finally ended: the Tigers made just six of their 21 three-point attempts, their first game making single-digit shots from three since a loss to Auburn in early January where LSU made just nine.