Tari Eason capped his 13-point performance with a dunk following a Kentucky turnover with 13 seconds left, and No. 21 LSU held off the 16th-ranked Wildcats 65-50 on Tuesday night.
Xavier Pinson added 11 points for LSU (13-1, 1-1 Southeastern Conference), capped by a flamboyant dunk in the final seconds after Kentucky’s 15th and final turnover, setting off a wild celebration inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Brandon Murray added 10 points for the Tigers in a tight contest that saw neither team lead by more than nine points.
Darius Day’s third 3 of the game and Eason’s inside basket put LSU ahead 61-52 with 2:35 to go, but Kentucky (11-3, 1-1) nearly rallied all the way back.
Davion Mintz’s 3 and driving layup through cluster of converging players in the paint capped an 8-0 run that made it 61-60 with 27 seconds to go.