Junior guard Skylar Mays scored 10 of his team-high 20 points in the final 3:10, and freshman Javonte Smart added 19 points to lift No. 13 LSU to a 74-69 victory over Alabama on Saturday in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

The victory kept LSU in a tie for first place in the SEC.

LSU (24-5, 14-2 SEC) trailed 56-53 when Alabama's Donta Hall hit a driving layup and free throw with 6:17 left. The Tigers then went on a 17-7 run, with Mays doing most of the damage with driving layups and heady passing.

Mays' dunk on a drive down the lane gave LSU a 64-59 lead with 3:10 left, and his spinning reverse layup with 67 seconds left put the Tigers up 66-63.

LSU point guard Tremont Waters, playing his first game after missing two starts because of illness, intercepted a wild entry pass by Riley Norris and dribbled down court, throwing a feed off the glass that Mays slammed home with two hands for a 68-63 lead with 41.9 seconds remaining.

John Petty hit back-to-back 3-pointers for Alabama in the final 20 seconds, but Mays iced the game with two free throws in the final seconds.

Petty led Alabama (17-12, 8-8) with 23 points.

Naz Reid had a double-double for LSU with 12 points and 13 rebounds.

Alabama trailed 23-13 with 11 minutes gone in the game but went on an 11-0 run over a six-minute span to take a 24-23 lead. Petty had 10 of the 11 points in the run, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Despite shooting just 34.4 percent from the field in the first half against Alabama's zone, LSU took a 29-28 lead at intermission on the strength of Smart's 13 points, but the rest of the team made just 6 of 21 shots.

Waters did not start but entered five minutes into the game. He hit the first shot he took, a 3-pointer from the right wing.

LSU extended its lead to 37-29 on a massive jam by Marlon Taylor off a missed 3-pointer by Mays, but Alabama used a 10-0 run to take a 47-41 lead. LSU tied it at 49 with a 6-0 spurt with 8:30 left.

--Field Level Media