No. 13 LSU’s top scorer Waters out vs. No. 5 Tennessee

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — No. 13 LSU says guard Tremont Waters is ill and is not in the lineup for Saturday’s game against No. 5 Tennessee.

Waters is LSU’s leading scorer, averaging 15.7 points per game, and his three steals per game leads the Southeastern Conference.

Waters’ absence, his first this season, comes as LSU tries to pull into a tie with Tennessee atop the SEC.

The 5-foot-11 sophomore plays point guard and normally initiates the offense. Those responsibilities now fall largely on freshman Javonte Smart and junior Skyler Mays. Smart averages 10.2 points and 2.3 assists per game. Mays starts at shooting guard and averages 13.2 points and 2.1 assists.

LSU enters the Tennessee game on the heels of an overtime loss to Florida in which Waters struggled to produce at his typical level and missed potentially pivotal perimeter shots in the final seconds of both regulation and overtime.