BATON ROUGE (AP) — Glen Davis scored 19 points, including a key three-point play in the final minute, as LSU ended a six-game losing streak with a 71-67 victory over Arkansas on Saturday.
Tasmin Mitchell scored with 2:06 left as the Tigers (14-10, 3-7 Southeastern Conference) recovered from a blown 10-point lead to tie the score.
Soon after, Davis gave LSU the lead for good by rebounding a missed shot by Terry Martin, then rebounding two of his own misses before finally scoring against the 7-foot Steven Hill while being fouled. Davis’ foul shot put LSU up 66-63 with 42 seconds remaining.
Arkansas (15-9, 4-6 SEC) cut the Tigers’ lead to 69-67 on a field goal by Charles Thomas with eight seconds remaining. Martin clinched the victory by making two free throws two seconds later.
Mitchell scored 16 points and Martin contributed 13. Davis also had 18 rebounds, ten on the offensive end.
Patrick Beverly led the Razorbacks with 17 points, while Gary Ervin had 16 and Thomas 11.
Trailing by 10 midway through the second half, Arkansas reduced its deficit to 59-57 after a 3-pointer by Weems with 4:10 to play. Thomas scored seven points as the Razorbacks outscored LSU 15-7.
A pair of 3-pointers by Ervin put Arkansas ahead 63-61 with 2:28 remaining. Mitchell then tied the score with a driving layup on the Tigers’ next possession to set up Davis’ late heroics.
LSU jumped out to a 21-12 lead as Martin sank three 3-pointers.
LSU then went nearly seven minutes without scoring, however. The Razorbacks scored 11 points during that span to take their first lead at 23-22. Two foul shots by Beverly put Arkansas ahead.
The game remained close in the final three minutes before halftime. A field goal by Martin after a missed shot by Davis with five seconds left gave the Tigers a 28-27 halftime lead.
LSU increased its one-point advantage at the outset of the second half on a basket by Mitchell and a three-point play by Davis. Slightly past the halfway point of the second half, the Tigers opened up a 52-42 lead after a field goal by Davis.
LSU HEAD COACH JOHN BRADY QUOTES
Opening Statement…
“I’ve always said that a good season, or a significant season is the difference to have the ability to win close games. We’ve had four or so of those and today we were able to get another one and we were able to win this one. Hopefully, this gives our team the confidence necessary to go win another one. Our next game is Wednesday at Ole Miss, we have won there the last two times. We have some guys on the team who have won there before and we will do everything we can to go there and get a road win. This was good for our team today and I’m proud of them. This is one, it’s a big one, but it is just one. We need four or five more somehow and we could possibly get it done. The only way we can do that is to remember the positive things we did from this game, let the others go and put the emphasis on the game Wednesday when we play at Oxford. I think Ole Miss is the most improved team in the league right now. I thought we guarded them pretty well, we did a nice job on Beverley and I thought ‘here we go again.’ Low and behold crunch time of the game, Ervin hits two threes and he is their poorest three point shooter. I was real concerned. We were able to rebound the ball, Glen (Davis) got on the board really well and got down around the goal and made some baskets. Certainly, playing like that helps our team from an offensive standpoint. Tasmin was solid throughout the game and Terry Martin was able to shoot some big baskets. Chris Johnson gave us a nice look off the bench. In the first half we were 3-of-6 from the free throw line and in the second half we were able to get some more. When Terry hit the two to ice the game, which was good for me because I would have hated to play the last six seconds. It’s a good win, a needed win and the challenge now is to go on the road and play our best against Oxford on Wednesday, who I think is the most improved team in the league right now.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On how important it is to stay motivated…
“We needed to come and play hard to get a win. We lost six in a row and we needed to get the enthusiasm back in the game. Whenever I had the opportunity to make plays whether it was shooting or on defense I wanted to go out there and come out with a “W”.”
On how he dealt with this same type of lost as a freshman…
“I’ve reflected on it some, but we want to grow from it and get the learning experience. We have the opportunity to come out here and rectify some of the mistakes that we made by losing those games. We want to just approach one game at a time and just come out and play hard and still have fun so we can win those games.”
On Glen Davis and his shots…
“I thought he was huge. He did a great job of accrediting himself on offense and defense. He posted up hard, crashing the boards defensively and offensively. He played at a real high energy level. We all feed off of him.”
On being more determined to win coming
“We wanted to win badly. It feels good to get a victory. We need to stay like coach said which is staying poised, and stay calm. We lost a 10 point lead with nine minutes left in the game. We all looked at each other and new we had to pull together to geet a win.”
ARKANSAS HEAD COACH STAN HEATH QUOTES
On the play of LSU …
“We didn’t have an answer for Glen Davis. At key times he made big plays, had big rebounds. He’s a dominant force. It’s unfortunate we weren’t at total full strength because that would be the best answer for it. We knew coming into the game we would see a very good LSU basketball team. This (LSU) is a team, obviously, that has several guys who played in the Final Four last year and are probably a little disappointed in the way this season is going. I think they wanted to make sure they did everything they could on their home court to step their games up, and I thought they did that.”
On the play of his team …
“We had several opportunities where we had a chance to take the lead or make a play, and it just seems like we didn’t make the big play. I really thought when we had that key three-point play and when took a lead by two with maybe two minutes to go, I thought that was right where we wanted to be – get a defensive stop, get a defensive rebound, and we go home with the win. It just didn’t happen that way. I know the guys in the locker room are disappointed about that and so are the coaches.”
ARKANSAS PLAYER QUOTES
Arkansas F Charles Thomas
On his thoughts on the game …
“Everybody is kind of down right now. We’ve been here before. We’ve just got to come out here and play every game like it’s our last.”
On the play of the team …
“It all comes down to pride and heart. I take that upon myself. We didn’t play with any pride. We didn’t play with any heart. We didn’t play with any passion. We can’t do that. As the team leader I have to thrive on myself, and some others have to step at the same time. I put it all on my shoulders. I know what to do. We just need to get it done, simple as that.”