NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Wayne Chism had 17 points and 10 rebounds and Tennessee (No. 13 ESPN/USA Today, No. 15 AP) overcame its worst first half of the season to beat LSU 59-49 in the first round of the Southeastern Conference tournament on Thursday.

With the teams tied at 30, Cameron Tatum stretched across the lane to hit a layup with 14:28 left and launch a 16-4 run for Tennessee (24-7). J.P. Prince dunked off an alley-oop pass from Brian Williams to extend the Vols' lead to 46-34, their largest margin of the game.

LSU (11-20) held Tennessee to 25.9 percent from the floor in the first half, the Vols worst shooting performance of any half this season. Tennessee also committed 17 turnovers.

Still, the Tigers couldn't take advantage of the Vols' struggles after scoring 11 off the giveaways and finishing with 36.4 percent shooting.

Tennessee, the only ranked team to play on the first day after finishing third in the East Division, advances to play Mississippi, the West's No. 2 seed.

Tasmin Mitchell hit consecutive 3s to cut Tennessee's margin to 54-49 with 1:02 left, but Aaron Dotson missed a layup and a foul on Storm Warren sent Bobby Maze to the free-throw line. Maze sank both of his shots to help Tennessee preserve the lead.

Maze finished with 14 points, and Prince added 11.

Mitchell entered the game needing 21 points to reach 2,000 but finished with 10 to end his career with 1,989. Storm Warren led LSU with 18 points.

The Vols, who have won 13 of the last 18 between the two teams, also struggled in their regular-season meeting with the Tigers, hanging on to win 59-54. LSU fought back after trailing by 14 points in that game, but Mitchell missed a potential game-tying 3 with 6 seconds left.

The two teams last met in the tournament in 2007 -- with LSU also ranked last in the West and Tennessee third in the East in that game -- but the Tigers won 76-67 in overtime.

courtesy LSU