By james art 
Baton Rouge, La. (AP) -Skay Zaggler scored 17 points, Felix Okpara added 15 and No. 5 Tennessee beat the LSU 65-59 on Tuesday night.
Chaz Lanie added 14 points and nine struggles for the volunteer season (23-5, 10-5 Southeastern conference), which fought offensively in the first half, but built a 15-point lead for the free throw of Cade Phillips 3: 24 to the left.
By the time LSU (14-14, 3-12) trimmed the Tennessee’s lead to 64-59, only 11 seconds remained.
Vyctorius Miller scored 17 points and Cam Carter had 12 for LSU, which lost its second direct game against a team ranked in the top five.
Output
Tennessee: Volunteers have won six of seven, four of those with single digits. Tennessee surpassed the LSU 32-20 in the paint.
LSU: With a rush of perimeter and active hands, LSU maintains the greater part of the game competitively, holding volunteers by 4.4% below their usual average firing of 45.4% and well below their average rating of 74.7 points through This season. The tigers just couldn’t shoot well enough to get the look of the Sect Stunner, which Georgia had against # 3 Florida earlier in the evening.
Key
After Zaggler struck a driving float from the glass when he was fouled, he missed his free throw, but the Alpara returned the bounce to make 51-42 with eight minutes left. Tennessee pulled away from there.
Key statistics
Tennessee ahead of the LSU 44-28 and turned 17 offensive struggles into 27 points for a second chance.
Forward
Both teams play on Saturday. Tennessee hosts No. 6 Alabama while LSU visits No. 24 Mississippi State.
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