LSU Rides Javonte Smart's Hot Hand to 78-65 Top 25 Win Over No. 16 Tennessee

Smart's 20 points and improved team defense the catalyst to LSU's first top 25 win

Whenever Javonte Smart sees that Tennessee orange on the opposite bench, he's usualy due for a big game. He scored 29 points as a freshman in one of the more memorable wins of the Will Wade era in 2018, then followed that up with 21 points in 2020, leading to another win. 

On Saturday in the PMAC, Smart turned in another memorable outing as his 20 points and improved team defense helped the Tigers pick up a key 78-65 tournament seeding win over No. 16 Tennessee.

"Every year we play them, I seem to just kill them," Smart said. "It's a confidence thing playing those guys. We really needed this win so I just wanted to go in with that mindset and lead the guys to this victory."

"He is a great player. He has been one of if not the most consistent guy all year for us," Wade said. "He's had huge games against a lot of opponents. He prepares well and works extremely hard. When you do that, good things happen."

LSU's defense was as good as it's been in conference play for the first 20 minutes of the game. Not many shots for Tennessee came easy in the first half as the guards had active hands on the perimeter and made winning plays at the rim, forcing the Volunteers to just 29% shooting in the opening 20 minutes.

What really helped the Tigers early was their ability to gain some extra possessions off of Tennessee mistakes. While they weren't able to convert on the offensive end, those wasted trips by the Volunteers were a catalyst to building out a lead. The first half offense was efficient for the most part but did start off slow so the defensive effort was important. 

"We've got a lot of playmakers, guys who can score the ball so we just hark on defense," Smart said. "Once everybody buys in and locks into guarding someone, I think this team has a chance to do something great."

A key 16-4 run sparked by great defensive intensity and good shot creation helped the Tigers build out a 28-16 lead in the opening half but closing out halves continued to be a problem. After going nearly four minutes without a point, Tennessee exploded for 10 points in the final 3:48 of the half to cut the LSU double digit lead to 31-26 at the break.

LSU's defensive intensity subsided a bit in the second half as Tennessee was able to find a rhythm. Luckily for the Tigers, the three ball started to drop as Cam Thomas, Darius Days and Aundre Hyatt all knocked down triples to keep the lead in that six to nine point range.

After Tennessee cut the lead to 52-46, LSU was able to respond with a 16-5 scoring frenzy as all of its "Big 4" played a helping hand in putting away the Volunteers. Days finished with 12 points on the afternoon, improving the LSU record to 13-1 when the junior forward scores double figures. Thomas poured in a game high 25 while Watford added nine more.

"Credit to our guys, we executed the plan, made them play with their weak hands, we kept them out of their sweet spots and we scrambled around," Wade said. "I thought Leblanc and Gaines really did a nice job but I thought it was one of our more complete efforts on defense."

Finally, with a comfortable lead in hand, the Tigers were able to capitalize at the free throw line, going 17-of-18 at the charity stripe for the game. 

LSU will now gear up for a second straight home outing, this time facing Auburn on Feb. 20. The Tigers do have an open date for the middle of the week that they could use to reschedule the Florida or Missouri matchups as well.