BATON ROUGE — Making 14-of-16 free throws in the final 7:24, the No. 24 LSU men’s basketball team defeated Kentucky for the first time in six seasons, 71-67, during the SEC’s Retro Week on Saturday in front of 11,576 at the Maravich Center.
During the first half and at halftime, LSU celebrated the 20th anniversary of the 1986 team’s run to the Final Four, which fittingly included a dramatic victory over the Wildcats in the Regional Final. The Tigers wore “throw-back” jerseys, beating Kentucky for the first time since Feb. 13, 2000.
LSU (20-7, 12-2 SEC) made only two field goals during the final stretch, but its free throw shooting was enough keep the sharp-shooting Wildcats at bay.
Kentucky’s Patrick Sparks hit two three pointers in the final 1:14 to first get within one and then tie the game at 67-67 with 29 seconds left. But the Wildcats did not score again.
Though Kentucky fought back from beyond the arc, it was LSU’s ability to get to the free-throw line and convert that proved the difference.
Only 20 of 51 from the field (39 percent), LSU made 27-of-31 free throws for 87 percent. Kentucky was 7-of-10.
The Tigers also held a 38-26 rebounding advantage.
LSU forward Glen Davis was a dominating presence in the paint, scoring a career-best 28 points and 15 grabbing rebounds. He made all nine of his free throws.
Guard Darrel Mitchell made only 3-of-11 shots, but also had eight assists and hit all six of his free throws to score 13 points. Tasmin Mitchell added 10 points, all key in the second half.
LSU freshman forward Tyrus Thomas had nine points, six rebounds and three blocked shots in the first half before leaving the game to have x-rays on his leg. Thomas appeared to injure himself late in the half, but played through the waning moments in obvious pain. He returned midway through the second half, but was not his usual athletic self due to a high ankle sprain.
Kentucky (18-10, 8-6 SEC) shot 46 percent from the field (26 of 57) including eight three pointers. Randolph Morris led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Sparks was the only other player in double figures scoring with 13.
Led by Morris, the Wildcats’ bench scored 40 points.
Davis scored 11 of LSU’s first 12 points to put the Tigers ahead 12-4 less than four minutes into the contest. Kentucky matched the effort by scoring seven straight to get within one before taking its first lead, 22-21, on a three pointer by Joe Crawford with 8:47 left in the half.
The Wildcats extended their lead to seven, 37-30, on a layup by Sheray Thomas. The Wildcats took the a 37-32 advantage into the lockerroom.
LSU shot only 33 percent in the half, as Tasmin Mitchell and Garrett Temple combined to miss all 11 of their field goal attempts.
The pair started a run in the second half that gave the lead back to the Tigers.
Tasmin Mitchell‘s first field goal of the game brought the Tigers within one point, just before Temple buried his first to give LSU a 44-42 lead with 14:10 to play. Seventy seconds later, Tasmin Mitchell‘s second basket came in the form of a three pointer to extend the LSU lead to 47-44.
A basket by Darrel Mitchell with 11:15 left had the Tigers up five, however, LSU went almost four minutes without a point and allowed Kentucky to take a 51-49 lead.
LSU’s free throws down the stretch were the difference, as the Tigers took the lead and fought off the Wildcats in the final minutes.
The Tigers return to action on Tuesday evening at 6 p.m. CT when the travel to South Carolina for a nationally televised game on ESPN. LSU holds a one-game lead over Tennessee in the overall SEC race, and has the tie-breaker with the Vols based on a head-to-head victory.
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY
Opening Statement…
“I was proud of our team for a lot of reasons. Tasmin’s (Mitchell) back wasn’t 100 percent, and it was obvious I’m sure to all of you. Darrel Mitchell was not 100 percent. He limped around basically the whole game and didn’t have the elevation on his shot and couldn’t cut as well. Tyrus Thomas rolled his ankle at the end of the first half there. They took him across the street to get him X-rayed because they thought he may have chipped a bone or something. The X-rays proved negative, but he’s got an ankle sprain. Along with Tasmin’s back, he got poked in the eye early in the game. His eye was bloodshot red and watering almost the whole game. I was proud of our team for not only overcoming how we started the game with some players not 100 percent, but how we were able to work through that game today and still find a way to win it. I think Darnell Lazare and Magnum Rolle gave us some good minutes off the bench. Darrel Mitchell just played on sure determination. He just had a gutty performance. Any time he goes 1-for-6 from the three-point line you know he’s not having he elevation on his shot that he needs to.”
“Like I told our team before the game, we started all with that. The game’s going to boil down to who can defend the best the longest, can we stay on the board and rebound the ball and can we get to the foul line. We defended well, I thought, throughout the game. We got on the backboard was really key for us. Then we got fouled and got to the free-throw line. When your best offensive jump shooters and perimeter players can’t shoot the ball as well or aren’t having what we need to make the offense run smoothly, what you do is try to throw the ball on the side or on a missed shot you offensive rebound and try to score and get fouled. We were able to get to the free-throw line and go 27-of-31 from the line, 17-of-19 the second half, which were the points in the game that really helped us win the game.”
“I thought the last possession when Darnell Lazare defended the post and made the player take a tough shot with him on a belly-up position with arms extended and not fouling, I thought that was a great individual defensive thing to do and not foul. With, Tyrus hurt and Tasmin not 100 percent and Darrel Mitchell not 100 percent, we thought we’d just go to Glen (Davis). I told him before the game, ‘Why don’t you go out and have your best game of the year tonight?’ Then at halftime, I told him at halftime I said, ‘Look, Tyrus may not be able to play. We’re going to go to you and you just do what you need to do. You know what to do out there.’ I thought Glen was outstanding — 28 points, 15 rebounds, 9-for-9 from the line. If he wasn’t involved in the initial shot at the basket, he certainly went and got his hands on it. Then we went to him late in the game. All we did was call this play ‘I’, and we cleared the floor and let Darrel Mitchell take it to the deep wing. We roll Glen out high on a ball screen, clear everybody else on the opposite side of the floor and we let Darrel and Glen just play. The last four possessions they played. We either made a layup or got fouled. That was the object. We stopped them enough at the end there.”
LSU Player Quotes
On having to carry the load without Tyrus Thomas…
“I was sorry that Tyrus (Thomas) couldn’t be out there with us, but that’s what we have to deal with. If we need a shot are need something to happen I feel like I can make the happen. That’s a role that I think I can do.”
On his fast start…
“It’s Kentucky. You have to start off strong in every game you play because you never know when that night is going to be their night. You try to start off as strong as possible and just take a very humble approach to the game, with a high level of concentration.”
On LSU being able to win the SEC outright…
“We didn’t dwell on that. If it’s going to happen it’s going to happen. Arkansas did us a favor, but we just capitalized by doing what we had to do today. It could have helped us, but it didn’t matter because we had to win the ball game against a really good team.”
On how his leg injury effected his performance…
“It was real painful to cut on and to get up on some of my jump shots. I just wanted to play regardless of the pain that I had and help my team win.”
On not fouling out in the last seven minutes…
“I knew that I was going to stay away from the fouls regardless of what happened. I was not going to foul anybody, so I knew that I was going to stay in for the last seven minutes.”
On Glen Davis‘s performance…
“Other guys were struggling shooting the ball. When other teammates are struggling, somebody has to step up and carry the team. Tonight Glenn Davis did and he showed that he has a lot of maturity for someone at such a young time in his career.”
On how the team is playing trough fatigue…
“Tonight we came out and gave it all that we had, irregardless of the pain we were in and next week at South Carolina we’re going to have to do it again.”
On why beating Kentucky is always a big win…
“I think it’s a big win, regardless of where Kentucky is in the SEC. They’ve built themselves to a place where we’re trying to get. This may be a down year for them, but they still come out and play hard every night. They’re still in the mix to go to the tournament. I just think that Coach Smith and those players have done a tremendous job of coming out and competing every night. You know they’re going to play hard for the name on the front of that jersey.”
KENTUCKY HEAD COACH TUBBY SMITH
Opening Statement
“This is a game we certainly had some chances in to get a win, but LSU is a very talented team. We knew we had to have a great effort, especially on the boards, which we didn’t do a very good job of keeping them off of. I can’t say enough about Glen Davis and how big he played today, just all the way around. Even though we had him in foul trouble, he came back and we just had no answer. We were trying to double him and take the ball out of his hands, and we didn’t do the job there. We needed to get to the free line more, something we have struggled with all year long. They get to the line 31 times and we get there 10. We didn’t do the job there. You have to do a better job of keeping care of the basketball and getting the shots, especially on the road. There is a fine line between winning and losing.”
“We tied it up there at 67 all. We foul and all we have to do is contain. We get a chance there at the end with a shot to maybe tie it up but we don’t finish that. We didn’t finish the job there, but a lot of it has to do with LSU. They are very athletic. They have some shot blockers and with a guy like Glen Davis and a guy like Darrel Mitchell, in the end they did what they had to do to win the game.”
On the last possession …
“They were looking for Randolph (Morris). Patrick (Morris) was wide open. We just have to get it to him sooner. Sheray (Thomas) is one of our better free throw shooters. I figured we would get it inside and get it up on the boards right away. We took too long to get into it. We have to sprint down the court and get into it right away. It was a two-point game. We tried to tie it right there. We are trying to get a score, a quick score.”
KENTUCKY PLAYER QUOTES
G Patrick Sparks
On his role in Kentucky’s last play…
“The play was for me to set a back screen for one of the big guys to get it at the bucket. We were only down two, so we ran a play to get a bucket inside. Unfortunately we didn’t make it.”
On losing a game they had fought so hard in throughout…
“It’s very disappointing. You have to give credit to LSU because they made their free throws and made plays at the end. We had a silly foul in the last 15 seconds. It’s kind of sad to see a game like that end with free throws.”
F Sheray Thomas
On missing the shot at the end of the game that would have tied the score…
“I should have gone with my first move. At the last second I decided to change it and go with the right-handed hook to the baseline and missed everything. I should have gone with my left-handed hook because it was there. I feel like I could have tied the game. I feel like this one’s on me. I lost the game. That’s just how I feel pretty much.”
On what caused him to change the shot…
“I felt (Darnell Lazare) come to my left-hand side. I knew I had him, but at the last second I switched. I was just thinking too much about the shot, whether to go with the hook or put it off the backboard. I was just trying to put it up there with time so in case I missed somebody else could get the rebound. I ended up missing everything. I put too much on it.”