Glenn Guilbeau

USA TODAY Network

BATON ROUGE — LSU apparently has given up losing for Lent.

The Tigers, losers of a school record 15 straight games, beat Tennessee, 92-82, on Ash Wednesday night — the first day of the Lent season in which Christians fast or give up certain things — at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center for their first victory since Jan. 4 when they won, 88-77, at Missouri.

It was LSU's first home win since a 75-65 victory over Charleston on Dec. 19, which means the Tigers home losing streak of eight games stretched over Advent, Christmas and Ordinary Time on the Catholic calendar.

"It was kind of crazy because we haven't gotten a win in a little while," LSU junior guard Jalyn Patterson said after scoring a career-high 22 points to lead the Tigers. "Everybody was happy and smiling. It was a totally different locker room."

LSU (10-19, 2-15 Southeastern Conference) broke the school record for consecutive losses on Saturday at Georgia, 82-80, at 15 after tying the record of 14 set in 1966 and 1967 with a 98-75 loss at home to Auburn on Feb. 21. The previous overall losing streak record pre-dated the varsity career of the namesake of the arena.

Fans did not storm the court, but if they had they might not have been able to cover it as only 1,500 were on hand. They were mostly quiet until the final minutes of the game when final victory finally looked imminent. LSU had blown large leads in previous second halves and blew a three-point lead late in the final minute at Georgia.

But not this time.

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes embraced LSU coach Johnny Jones following the game, and there was a low-key celebration by the Tigers and their fans.

"I'm really happy for our team," said Jones, whose job is in jeopardy. "Those guys continue to fight. They played extremely hard. I'm really happy for our fans who have been behind us and really supporting us. I thank them for never giving up on these guys."

LSU will finish the regular season and try to make it two in a row at Mississippi State on Saturday before the SEC Tournament on March 8-12 in Nashville, Tennessee.

"There were only two games left in SEC play, so it was good for us," Patterson said. "It was the last home game of the season, so we wanted to go out there and play hard and give everything we got and just try to win."

LSU dominated the second half, outscoring Tennessee 50-36 for the win after trailing 46-42 at the half. The Tigers led by double digits for the most part from the 12:22 mark of the second half until the end of the game. The Volunteers (15-15, 7-10 SEC) led by five with 9:20 to go in the first half at 23-18 on a 3-pointer by Lew Evans. LSU outscored Tennessee, 18-5, to open the second half and took a 60-51 lead with 14:25 to play on a layup by Aaron Epps.

LSU took a 65-55 lead with 11:29 to go in the second half on a three-point play by guard Brandon Sampson, who hit a fast break layup with an assist from Patterson, then Sampson hit the free throw. The Tigers remained in control for the rest of the game.

Sampson led LSU with a career high-tying 24 points. Epps added 10 with six rebounds, and Duop Reath scored 10 with six rebounds.

Tennessee cut it to single digits with 3:46 to play when Grant Williams drove for a layup and was fouled by senior Brandon Eddlestone, who fouled out on the play. Williams made the free throw to get the Vols within 78-69. But the Tigers were soon up by double digits again. Tennessee got it within 10 three more times in the final minute, but never threatened to overtake the Tigers.

Williams and Shembari Phillips led Tennessee with 16 points apiece. Lamonte Turner added 14.

LSU shot 50 percent in each half and hit 7 of 15 from 3-point range for 46.7 percent.

"They killed us," Williams said. "That's the one thing we had to do - guard them, and we didn't."

Barnes noticed that.

"Offensively, they did whatever they wanted to do," he said. "Certainly have to give credit to Johnny and his team. From our end, just very disappointing in the way that we defended."

LSU is undefeated in March.

"It was a matter of time," Patterson said. "We just stuck with it each and every day in practice. It's good for us. We finally got one."

Glenn Guilbeau covers LSU sports for the USA Today Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter at @LSUBeatTweet. Coverage of LSU and commentary by Guilbeau supported by Hebert’s Town & Country Automobile Dealer in Shreveport located at 1155 East Bert Kouns Loop. Research your next Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep or Ram at http://hebertstandc.com/.)