Despite winning six of its past eight outings, Tennessee has had to weather two stinging losses because of blown leads.

The Volunteers (17-7, 7-4 Southeastern Conference) will kick off a two-game home stretch with two games where they are expected to be strong favorites, starting Saturday against LSU in Knoxville, Tenn.

Coach Rick Barnes’ club is tied for fourth in the conference with Vanderbilt, Alabama, Missouri and Texas A&M, with each trailing first-place Florida by two games.

The two losses over eight games were missed opportunities and costly: The Volunteers had healthy, double-digit leads twice against rival Kentucky but failed to seal the wins both times.

In its 73-64 road win Wednesday over Mississippi State, Tennessee led by 23 points with under 11 minutes left but had to withstand its recurring nemesis in the form of an 18-0 Bulldogs run.

“One thing when I talked to them, I said, ‘How do we let that happen?'” said Barnes, whose squad hosts Oklahoma on Wednesday. “And again, this team, they’re like, ‘We had an 18-0 run?’ They were shocked.

“It goes back to concentration and not getting relaxed. That kind of has been the story of our team. We get a lead and we start doing those things.”

Ja’Kobi Gillespie (18.5 points per game) and Nate Ament (17.5) are the only two players scoring in double figures.

The Tigers (14-10, 2-9) are 1-5 in the past six games, with four setbacks being by double figures.

Two weeks ago at South Carolina, coach Matt McMahon’s squad won 92-87 in overtime behind 21 points from Mike Nwoko, who scores 13.3 per game.

With guard Rashad King running the point and setting season highs in points (18) and rebounds (seven), LSU recorded a season-best 23 assists on 31 made baskets.

“That’s the pathway for us moving forward,” said McMahon. “Less dribbling. More ball movement, more off-ball screens give us our best opportunity to be efficient on offense right now.”

Dedan Thomas Jr. leads LSU with 15.3 points, but the UNLV transfer has not played since injuring his foot Jan. 28 against Mississippi State.

McMahon added his guard is trying to get healthy, saying, “I know in today’s age of college athletics, you hear a lot of opt-outs and things like that. He is doing everything in his power (to play).”

Max Mackinnon averages 14.5 points per game, and Marquel Sutton tallies 13.4.

–Field Level Media

Two straight losses, including a 92-72 whipping Sunday at Cincinnati, have UCF looking like the ultimate bubble team when it comes to its NCAA Tournament hopes.

Despite that blowout, the Knights are still on the right side of the bubble, according to most experts, as they prepare for a Saturday night Big 12 home game against West Virginia in Orlando, Fla.

“We’ve just got to keep working,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said. “We need to be getting better every day. When you’re in this gauntlet, anything can happen from game to game.”

This time around, “anything” meant allowing Cincinnati to drain 11 of 18 3-pointers and hit 33 of 56 shots overall, an unusually hot shooting performance for a team that usually struggles to score.

But the Knights (17-6, 6-5 Big 12) drew a midweek bye, giving them six days to try to fix a defense that has allowed 83.4 ppg in their last seven games. They will also look to get point guard Themus Fulks back on track after he struggled in 19 scoreless minutes at Cincinnati, missing both his shots and committing two turnovers.

Fulks’ 13.3 points per game are second on the team and his 6.8 assists are 12th in the nation.

West Virginia (15-9, 6-5) needs to get on a late-season run to earn an NCAA berth. It also had a midweek bye after falling 70-63 at home Sunday against then-No. 13 Texas Tech. The Mountaineers lost that one at the 3-point line, going 2 of 22 while the Red Raiders nailed 13 of 24.

First-year coach Ross Hodge said the game’s tone was set early when Texas Tech won a string of loose balls that led to baskets.

“I think if you step on the floor legitimately expecting to win the game, you get more loose balls than your opponent,” he said. “That was the ultimate disappointing part of the game to me.”

Honor Huff is West Virginia’s leading scorer at 15.4 per game, but is coming off a 0-of-8 shooting performance against Texas Tech. He managed six points, all from the foul line.

–Field Level Media

After sitting out against the No. 1 team in the country, Kansas freshman Darryn Peterson will be back in time to face No. 5.

Kansas coach Bill Self told ESPN on Friday that Peterson was “good to go” when the ninth-ranked Jayhawks visit fifth-ranked Iowa State on Saturday.

Peterson sat out with flu-like symptoms on Monday when the Jayhawks hosted No. 1 Arizona. Kansas was able to win without him, handing the Wildcats their first loss of the season, 82-78.

Peterson is considered one of the frontrunners to be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this June, but he has played in just 13 of Kansas’ 24 games due to multiple ailments, including quad and hamstring injuries.

He has averaged 20.5 points and 4.2 rebounds per game while shooting 48.9% from the field and 41.9% from the arc this year. Peterson had 16 points when Kansas took down Iowa State 84-63 back on Jan. 13, marking the Cyclones’ first loss of the season.

–Field Level Media