LSU upsets Tennessee, seizes SEC lead

When LSU fell behind early by 19 points, coach Van Chancellor was afraid to look at his cell phone.

"Well, when it was 21-2, I didn't want to answer my cell phone," the first-year coach said. "I thought it might be the athletic director telling me I no longer had a job."

Chancellor had nothing to worry about. The No. 7 Lady Tigers overcame the deficit and grabbed the Southeastern Conference lead with a 78-62 win over top-ranked Tennessee on Thursday night in Knoxville, Tenn.

LSU (21-3, 10-0 SEC), which remains the only SEC team without a conference loss, also handed Tennessee (22-2, 8-1) its worst conference loss at home since a 72-56 setback to Georgia in 1985.

Sylvia Fowles led a balanced offensive attack with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Erica White added 16 points, Quianna Chaney 14 points, RaShonta LeBlanc had 11 and Ashley Thomas and Allison Hightower both added 10.

It was the first time in history six LSU players have achieved double-figure scoring.

Candace Parker led Tennessee with 26 points and had 10 rebounds.

Tennessee was coming off a controversial last-second win over Rutgers on Monday night. Coach Pat Summitt said earlier in the week that the Lady Vols were spent emotionally and physically after that game.

"I can't figure this group out," she said. "We got a win over Rutgers. They went in understanding that we could win the league tonight if we took care of business. That didn't seem to matter very much."

Maryland 78, Boston College 51: Marah Strickland scored a career-high 20 points, and No. 4 Maryland (26-2, 10-1 ACC) cruised past Boston College (17-8, 5-5). The victory was the fourth straight for the Terrapins, while the Eagles suffered their third straight loss.

Men

Butler 89, Youngstown St. 73: Mike Green scored 17 points, and host No. 9 Butler (23-2, 12-2 Horizon League) beat Youngstown State (8-17, 4-11) for its seventh straight win. A.J. Graves scored 15 points and Matt Howard 12 for Butler.

Michigan 60, Iowa 52: Manny Harris scored a game-high 15 points, and Anthony Wright added 8 crucial points down the stretch as Michigan (7-17, 3-9 Big Ten) rallied to beat host Iowa (11-15, 4-9).

Michigan shot 33.3 percent and scored just 16 points in the first half but used a 23-6 run in the second half to pull away from the Hawkeyes.

Jake Kelly led Iowa with 12 points.

Wright St. 55, Loyola 51: Will Graham scored 17 points, including the go-ahead layup in the game's final minutes, to help host Wright State (18-6, 10-4 Horizon League) beat Loyola (9-15, 5-9).

J.R. Blount scored 10 points for Loyola. The Ramblers shot 25 percent in the second half and were outrebounded for the game, 37-27.

Detroit 68, Illinois-Chicago 60: Jon Goode scored all of his 22 points in the second half to help host Detroit (6-18, 2-12 Horizon League) break a three-game losing streak with a victory over Illinois-Chicago (14-11, 8-6).

Robert Kreps and Jermaine Dailey each had 15 points to lead the Flames.

E. Illinois 90, SE Missouri 70: Jake Byrne scored 18 points to lead Eastern Illinois (5-20, 4-13 Ohio Valley) over host Southeast Missouri (12-15, 7-10).

Bobby Catchings scored 17 for the Panthers, Julio Anthony and Gino Myers-Kyles each scored 15, and Tyler Laser had 12.