No. 16 Tennessee hosts No. 6 LSU following Spear's 28-point game

Published Jan. 9, 2025 3:42 a.m. ET

Associated Press

LSU Tigers (17-0, 2-0 SEC) at Tennessee Volunteers (13-1, 1-1 SEC)

Knoxville, Tennessee; Thursday, 6:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 16 Tennessee faces No. 6 LSU after Jewel Spear scored 28 points in Tennessee's 87-86 loss to the Oklahoma Sooners.

The Volunteers are 8-1 on their home court. Tennessee ranks third in the SEC in rebounding averaging 39.6 rebounds. Talaysia Cooper paces the Volunteers with 5.6 boards.

The Tigers are 2-0 against conference opponents. LSU is 1-0 in games decided by 3 points or fewer.

Tennessee averages 12.1 made 3-pointers per game, 5.5 more made shots than the 6.6 per game LSU gives up. LSU averages 5.0 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.2 more makes per game than Tennessee gives up.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season for the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: Cooper is shooting 51.7% and averaging 17.8 points for the Volunteers.

Flau'jae Johnson is averaging 19.7 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.6 steals for the Tigers.

LAST 10 GAMES: Volunteers: 9-1, averaging 97.3 points, 39.7 rebounds, 17.3 assists, 13.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 46.3% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 67.2 points per game.

Tigers: 10-0, averaging 92.8 points, 44.4 rebounds, 16.2 assists, 10.8 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 50.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 63.3 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.