BATON ROUGE, La. – The University of Tennessee men’s basketball team trailed for just 92 seconds in a 65-59 triumph Tuesday night at LSU.

Senior guard Zakai Zeigler paced fifth-ranked Tennessee (23-5, 10-5 SEC) with a co-game-high 17 points in the win at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

The Volunteers held LSU (14-14, 3-12 SEC) scoreless for 6:50 midway through the opening half, forcing six misses and four turnovers. They scored seven straight points at the other end during that period to build a 22-14 edge at the 5:42 mark.

Tennessee’s lead remained eight with under 85 seconds left in the frame, but the Tigers scored the last five points before the break to make it 26-23 at the intermission. Both sides shot 10-of-27 (37.0 percent) through 20 minutes, with the visitors posting a 4-of-13 (30.8 percent) 3-point ledger and holding LSU to a 3-of-15 (20.0 percent) tally.

The Volunteers used an early 6-0 second-half surge to go up by 11, 39-28, with 14:59 left. LSU countered with 10 of the next 14 points, trimming the margin to 43-38 with 10:52 to go, the first of three times it got within five.

Tennessee, however, never led the home team get any closer. Used a 7-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from fifth-year guard Chaz Lanier, in 2:50 late the frame to build a 14-point advantage, 58-44, with 4:29 to go. Just 65 seconds later, the Volunteers took their largest lead, 61-46.

The Tigers put together a late rally, logging an 11-1 run in 1:46, to again slice their deficit to five with 12 ticks left. Tennessee scored the final point of the night from the free-throw line and sealed the victory with a defensive stop.

Zeigler, who scored 11 of his points in the final 15 minutes, led a trio of Volunteers with over a dozen points. Junior forward Felix Okpara notched 15, one shy of his career high, on a perfect 6-of-6 field-goal mark and an unblemished 3-of-3 free-throw ledger. Lanier had 14 points and went 3-of-8 from 3-point range, while senior guard Jahmai Mashack added nine points.

Four Tennessee players grabbed at least seven rebounds, with Lanier’s season-high nine pacing all players. Mashack had eight to equal his career best, while Okpara and senior forward Igor Miličić Jr., each pulled down seven. It marked the 10th time in the last 20 seasons (2005-25), including the second this year, four Volunteers logged seven-plus boards.

Freshman guard Vyctorious Miller had 17 points, finishing 6-of-11 from the field, with a 3-of-6 long range mark. Senior guard Cam Carter scored 12 points, but Tennessee limited him to a 3-of-10 shooting, including a 1-of-6 count on 3-pointers.

The shooting percentages across the board were nearly identical. Tennessee had a 41.1 percent (23-of-56) clip overall, a 27.3 percent (6-of-22) ledger from deep and a 61.9 percent (13-of-21) figure at the line. LSU recorded respective marks of 41.2 percent (21-of-51), 25.9 percent (7-of-27) and 62.5 percent (10-of-16).

Tennessee, though, registered a commanding 17-8 edge on the offensive glass, leading to a 27-8 margin in second-chance points. It marked the team’s highest total since Nov. 9, 2021.

The Volunteers now head home, where they play sixth-ranked Alabama in a top-10 clash Saturday at 4 p.m., live on ESPN from Food City Center.

To keep up with the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team on social media, follow @Vol_Hoops on Instagram and X/Twitter, as well as /tennesseebasketball on Facebook.

TENNESSEE VOLUNTEERS POSTGAME NOTES
• Tennessee has now won four consecutive games against LSU, with this the first decision by fewer than 14 points.
• Tuesday marked just the third time in the last 19 series matches—that dates to March 11, 2010—the final margin between the two teams was fewer than nine points.
• Tuesday marked the eighth time in the last nine series meetings Tennessee was ranked, with its recorded improving to 5-3 in those contests, including 4-1 with LSU unranked.
• Along with moving to 69-50 all-time versus the Tigers, Tennessee improved to an even .500 (28-28) on the road against LSU.
• Tennessee head coach Rick Barnes collected his 829th Division I win, again tying him with Arkansas’ John Calipari for the top mark among active coaches and for the No. 10 spot all-time.
• Barnes now has 110 wins in SEC play, passing Nolan Richardson and tying former Tennessee head coach Don DeVoe for the No. 19 position on the league’s all-time leaderboard.
• This is the fifth consecutive season the Volunteers have reached double-digit SEC victories, the third such streak in program history, joining 2005-06 to 2009-10 and a 13-year mark from 1964-65 to 1976-77.
• The two teams combined to shoot just 2-of-5 at the free-throw line in the first half, with Tennessee posting a 2-of-4 mark and LSU missing its lone attempt.
• In the second half, Tennessee entered the bonus with 10:50 remaining in the contest, as it drew seven fouls in the opening 9:10.
• The Volunteers have held a halftime advantage in 20 of their 28 outings this season, including a margin of seven-plus points 13 times, double digits 11 times, 12-plus 10 times, 14-plus eight times, 20-plus four times and 23-plus thrice.
• Tennessee has conceded 35 or fewer first-half points in 25 of its 28 contests thus far, including 29 or fewer on 15 occasions and 23 or fewer eight times.
• The Volunteers last recorded 27-plus second chance points in the 2021-22 season opener, amassing 34 against UT Martin on Nov. 9, 2021.
• The last time Tennessee had even 25-plus second chance points was Dec. 7, 2022, when it notched exactly 25 versus Eastern Kentucky.
• All 10 times in the last 20 seasons (2005-25) four Volunteers have registered seven-plus rebounds in the same game have come in the last 13 years (2012-25), with eight of them in Barnes’ tenure (2015-25).
• The other time this season four Tennessee players pulled down at least seven rebounds in the same contest was Dec. 17, 2024, against Western Carolina when Zeigler (10), Okpara (nine), Lanier (seven) and sophomore forward Cade Phillips (seven) did so.
• Zeigler’s 35 minutes of action upped his career total to 3,695, moving him past Tony Harris (1997-2001) for the No. 15 spot on the program’s all-time list.
• Okpara is the 10th player—13th occurrence—in Tennessee history to reach 50 blocked shots in a single season
• Okpara recorded double-digit points for the 22nd time in his career, including the 10th in his first campaign at Tennessee, and reached 15-plus points for the third time, including the second this year.
• Lanier grabbed seven rebounds in the first half alone, his fourth time reaching that mark in a full game this year and just one shy of his top tally in a complete contest.
• Lanier’s final total of nine rebounds eclipsed his prior top 2024-25 rebounding total of eight Feb. 15 against Vanderbilt.
• Mashack has thrice previously grabbed eight rebounds in a game, most recently doing so Feb. 18 at Kentucky.