BATON ROUGE — In front of 13,345 fans on Mardi Gras night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, the 18th-ranked LSU men’s basketball team clinched at least a share of the Southeastern Conference regular-season championship, 81-75, over Florida.
Marcus Thornton scored 32 points with six three pointers and 10-of-11 free throws to pace the Tigers throughout. Guard Garrett Temple added 21 points despite playing the final eight minutes with four fouls.
LSU forward Tasmin Mitchell had a team-best eight rebounds to go with 12 points. Point guard Bo Spencer had nine points, six assists and six rebounds.
The Tigers won their 12-straight SEC game.
LSU (24-4, 12-1 SEC) had an answer for everything Florida (21-7, 8-5 SEC) threw at them. LSU countered a 12-2 Florida run to end the first half by tying the game in the first 50 seconds of the second half.
With the game tied midway through the second half, LSU rolled off nine-straight in two minutes, 67-58.
Florida again came within three, 67-64, but an off-the-ball foul by Gators freshman guard Erving Walker allowed Thornton to hit two free throws. Florida never again got closer than two possessions.
Both teams shot near 50 percent for much of contest, as the Tigers finished 27-of-55 for 49.1 percent and while Florida cooled in the final minutes (29 of 67) and shot 43.4 percent.
Florida made 10-of-27 three pointers, while LSU was 9-of-21 from beyond the arc (42.4 percent).
The Gators were led by guard Walter Hodge with 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting and four three pointers. Forward Alex Tyus added 15 points and six rebounds, while All-SEC guard Nick Calathes had to 12 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
LSU trailed 12-11 when Chandler Parsons hit a three pointer with 13:34 left in the first half. Two three pointers by Thornton helped the Tigers regain the advantage, 19-14 only two minutes later.
Two more Thornton threes gave LSU its largest lead of the half, 32-24, with 7:01 left in the half.
The Tigers went cold the rest of the half, making only 2-of-7 shots with two turnovers. A 12-2 Florida run gave the Gators a 41-37 lead to end the half, its largest of the game.
Both teams shot at least 50 percent from the field in the first half, as LSU was 15-of-29 from the field including 6-of-12 from three-point range. Thornton was 5-of-7 from three-point range in the half.
LSU overcame the halftime deficit with a 7-0 run early in the second half that included five points by Temple. The Tigers led 53-50 with 13:27 left to play.
Two free throws by Mitchell broke a 58-58 tie and started another 7-0 LSU run. A three pointer by Temple brought the capacity crowd it a roar that only got louder when Thornton found Mitchell with a no-look pass for a fast-break layup.
Trailing 65-58, Florida coach Billy Donovan took a timeout at 9:07 to stem the Tigers run and calm the crazed audience.
LSU maintained its seven-point advantage, 71-64, at the final media timeout with 3:17 to play.
Leading 73-69 with less than a minute to play, LSU got a floating jumper by Spencer glanced off the glass and found nothing but the bottom of the net. The shot again brought the crowd to its feet and clinched at least a share of the school’s 10th conference title.
Florida only managed two three pointers in the final 90 seconds, but the Tigers made eight-straight free throws to win.
LSU looks to claim the SEC regular-season title outright on Saturday when they travel to Rupp Arena in Lexington to face Kentucky. Tipoff is set for 3 p.m. CDT on CBS.
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON QUOTES
Opening statement …
“We had to play really well at halftime. We made a couple of adjustments to attack their zone because they had us out of rhythm. Basically, I just told them that they needed to start playing basketball because Florida’s zone is based off of trying to get you think and not just react. We decided to just try to run a zone. We made the decision to run our man-on-man. It really helped in the first half that Marcus (Thornton) made some deep threes. I’ve gotten spoiled because Marcus can flat out play. If there is a better two guard in the country other than the guy in Kentucky, I’d like to see him. That is how I feel about Marcus Thornton.
“Florida did a really good job of doubling down on Tasmin (Mitchell) and sometimes it was a man and half. Garrett (Temple) stepped up in a huge way and made some key offensive plays and he was very aggressive. I think the game was decided in the second half. We guarded them and really got after them. Florida had 41 at the half, but it seemed like they had 50 the way they were running around us and transitioning and everything was easy for them. I’m just so happy for our guys.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
Opening statement…
“Coming in tonight we knew there would be a lot of hoopla because of the ESPN game and today being Fat Tuesday. We tried to block all of that out and come and play some LSU basketball. We didn’t defend like we wanted to in the first half, but we changed for the second half. Bo (Spencer) made some big plays. Marcus (Thornton) made some big plays, and I was able to knock down some shots to get the win.”
On winning the SEC championship…
“We’ve won the west outright. We’re trying to win the whole thing by ourselves. We’re going to Lexington to play in front of a hostile crowd. Kentucky is Kentucky, but we’re trying to win the whole SEC outright. Until we win the game, we won’t consider ourselves the SEC champions.”
On comparing this time of the season to last year’s season…
“Coach (Johnson) came in with his style and way of doing things. It’s been working for us. People have been underestimating us and our schedule, but we’re winning. Nobody except for the people in the locker room thought we were going to be 12-1 after 13 games in the SEC. I think the biggest difference is the discipline in the players, us buying into what Coach Johnson says and executing what he tells us to do. It’s working for us this year.”
Opening statement…
“We knew Florida was going to come in and give it their best shot like all of the teams from here on out. We weathered the storm. The first half we didn’t play as well as we wanted. In the second half we made it. We came out in the second half and did everything we needed to do to win the game.”
On comparing this time of the season to last year’s season…
“Coach Johnson came in with one thing on his mind and that’s getting us to where we are right now. He’s done a good job of getting us to that point. The main thing with him is defense. Offense will take care of itself. We just come out every game and focus on our defense and get the job done.”
Opening statement…
“We played well. Florida came out and played well. They came out strong in the first half. It was all we needed to come back in the second half. Coach (Johnson) came in and gave us a motivational speech at half. He told us that the game was right there in our hands so go grab it. That’s what we did.”
FLORIDA HEAD COACH BILLY DONOVAN
Opening Statement…
“I wasn’t really surprised with what (LSU G Marcus) Thornton was able to do. He really made some difficult shots and had a couple of wide-open looks that he couldn’t knock down. I really thought he made some great shots. (LSU G Garrett) Temple is a senior and he stepped up and really had a good game.
“I thought our guys did a really good job of stepping up and holding their own on the backboards against a really good team. I thought offensively our guys had a really good first half. I thought in the second half we got a little bit impatient. We took some runs by them where we got down by five or eight and we battled back and were able to get back up by four. Then they were able to come in the second half and make their first four shots to take the lead and then we took the lead back. That’s when they went on a seven or eight-point run and we had to constantly try to play catch up. We could cut it to three or four, but never get all the way back.
“I thought our frontcourt guys played really well. I know (F) Dan (Werner) didn’t shoot the ball well, but they really played pretty well. (F) Alex (Tyus) had the opportunity to have a huge night and he was really active around the basket. He missed some jump hooks and had some balls roll out of the rim, but he got off 17 shots and it was good because it’s good when you can get off 17 close shots against a team that’s second in the SEC in rebounding. It was a real positive for us that we were able to get so much around the rim. I thought when we played them last year, that was the big difference in the game – scoring around the basket — and I thought the combination of getting the ball inside and hitting our shots really put us in a good position in the first half. In the second half, I think some guys just got a little too aggressive and some of that aggressiveness led into them making some plays.”
On what he thinks happened midway through the second half to let LSU take the lead for good…
“I think we were playing against the best team in the league right now with a whole bunch of seniors. I think our guys did pretty well to be honest with you. I don’t think it had anything to do with (the shot selection). I think it had more to do with the fact that I think these guys need to learn the patience of a shot that is available, and it’s not bad shots, I just think there were some shots that were tough two’s that we missed where we bobbled the ball or on the break. We had some plays that we could have made, but we just didn’t. I think we took some shots on the road that were not necessarily great shots. We could have waited until later in the clock. I thought in the first half we were in a good rhythm offensively … we had a little bit of everything. Then I thought in the second half we got a little rushed.”
FLORIDA PLAYER QUOTES
Guard Erving Walker
On LSU…
“They just executed their offense better than we executed. They are a good team, and they outplayed us in the end.”
On Marcus Thornton‘s performance…
“He’s a great player. He just hit tough shots. I thought we played good defense and contested some of his shots, but he just made tough shots and big free throws.”
On if Florida was tired in the second half…
“I don’t think we were tired; we are in pretty good shape. That’s a great team, and they just outplayed us toward the end.”
Guard Walter Hodge
On playing on the road…
“I don’t think there is anything wrong. We just have to come and play the game the right way. We just have to keep fighting and keep playing hard.”
On the hostile crowd…
“I don’t think the environment was that great. We are used to playing at Kentucky, and it’s louder. Every game we’ve lost on the road was close, and we just have to execute at the end.”