Pregame Thoughts

Tennessee enters this game game with 23 wins on the season after posting an 11-5 mark in SEC play.

LSU enters with just 11 wins and went 2-14 in conference play.

I think that leaves everyone pretty much expecting the same thing this afternoon in the opening round of the SEC Tournament: a Tennessee win, and probably a big one at that.

However, the Tigers did manage to play the Vols close last month in Baton Rouge, as UT held on for a 59-54 win. The loss dropped the Tigers to 0-8 in SEC games, but they did manage to pick up a pair of wins in their final four conference games.

And we all know about Tennessee's sub-par history when it comes to the SEC Tournament. But with all of that said, I still think the Vols win handily today.

My Pick: Vols 74 Tigers 57

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2:45 p.m. CST: The Vols have opened this game with some pretty sloppy play on the offensive end, with three turnovers so far. Two of those came on bad passes, and a third poor pass could have easily been another turnover. However, the Vols are doing well protecting their rim right now, as Bobby Maze and Brian Williams each have a nice block in the early going. LSU leads 6-4 with 15:43 to play in the first half.

2:53 p.m. CST: Not only do the Vols already have four turnovers, but they're also taking far too many shots from 3-point range (1-for-4 thus far). Fortunately for UT, Wayne Chism came to play today. He's got all six points for the Vols and is headed to the line for one free throw following this timeout. Storm Warren has matched Chism's total for LSU, scoring on a pair of mid-range jumpers and an authoritative dunk. The Tigers lead 10-6 with 11:46 remaining before the half.

3:03 p.m. CST: Amazingly, the Vols are only down three points despite no one other than Chism scoring during the opening 11:39. The turnover woes haven't gone away for the Vols yet, as they've now amassed seven. UT also turned the ball over a ton on Senior Night against Arkansas. This team can't afford to do that this time of year. LSU leads 12-9 with 7:47 remaining in the first half.

3:14 p.m. CST: If the Vols were playing any SEC team other than LSU right now, I firmly believe they'd be down by double digits. But since it's the Tigers on the floor, the Vols trail just 17-14 with 3:23 remaining before halftime. Brian Williams has an opportunity to cut the deficit to two with a free throw after this timeout. I'm sure Bruce Pearl will take that, since the Vols are shooting 24 percent with eight turnovers so far.

3:23 p.m. CST: Against most teams, you don't enter halftime tied if you shoot XX percent in the first half with X turnovers. But LSU just isn't most teams. The Vols have had literally no production from any perimeter player, yet managed to tie the score 21-21 on Chism's free throw with less than a second to play in the half.

Chism, Prince and Williams combined to shoot 7-for-14 from the floor for 20 points. Those three also combined for 14 rebounds in the opening 20 minutes, while the rest of the Vols scored one point on 0-for-13 shooting and just five rebounds. The Tigers were led by Warren's eight points in the half. I'd love to hear what Pearl has to say to his guys at halftime. I'm sure it's not pleasant to be one of those players right now.

3:50 p.m. CST: Both teams look much better on offense to start the second half, as the score is tied 30-30 with 15:06 to play in the game. A 3-pointer from Bobby Maze provided the Vols with their first basket from the backcourt, and also gave the team its first lead of the game since the score was 3-2. Chism and Williams have each scored a basket in this half and are by far the standouts for the Vols today.

4:01 p.m. CST: Tennessee has scored six straight points to break the tie, and the Vols now lead 36-30 with 11:29 to play. It appears the Vols finally have a little bit of momentum, and the Tigers still look miserable on the offensive end. The only way I see LSU battling back to win is if UT turns the ball over and takes contested jumpers. But those are two things the Vols could a lot in 12 minutes.

4:10 p.m. CST: We're back to the grind-it-out pace we saw in the first half now, as the teams did nothing more than score a basket apiece aver the past four minutes. The Vols are still up six with 7:48 to play, but could have been up more had it not been for back-to-back turnovers by Prince with the Vols up 38-30. Prince has accounted for six of the Vols 16 turnovers this afternoon.

4:20 p.m. CST: The Vols looked like they had taken complete control of this game after a Chism 3-pointer and alley-oop dunk by Prince put the team up 12, but LSU scored five straight to trim that lead to seven. The Vols now lead 48-39 with 3:58 to play. I still don't think LSU has the scorers to overcome this big of a deficit this late, but crazier things have happened.

4:38 p.m. CST: Well, I think it's safe to say it's a good thing Tennessee got to play the worst team in the SEC today. In spite of a pretty poor performance, the Vols get the 59-49 win thanks to Chism and some downright abysmal offense from the Tigers.

The Vols got next-to-nothing from their backcourt today until Maze stepped up in the final two minutes to ice the game at the free throw line. That won't be good enough tomorrow, though. The Vols need a productive game from a couple guys in the guard rotation if they hope to pick up a win over Ole Miss tomorrow.