BATON ROUGE — LSU used a 17-0 run in the first half to take the lead for good against Alabama Sunday at the Maravich Center propelling the Tigers to a 76-62 win over the Crimson Tide.
The Tigers reach the halfway point of league play as the leaders in the both the Western Division and the overall league race with a 7-1 record. LSU is 19-4 overall heading to a big game Wednesday night in Starkville against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs are one game behind LSU at 6-2 entering the final four weeks of the regular season. Alabama falls to 13-10 overall and 3-6 in the league.
Alabama had the advantage early in the game as the Tigers couldn’t stop the Tide, getting several easy transition buckets to opening up a nine-point leads of 11-2 and 13-4.
LSU slowly began to whittle the lead down, closing to 19-18 on a dunk by Marcus Thornton at the 9:34 mark but Anthony Brock would hit a three at the 8:37 mark to make it 22-18, Alabama.
That’s when the Tigers went to work. Thornton hit a layup and a free throw to cut the lead to 22-21. Tasmin Mitchell hit a head-on three-pointer to give LSU the lead good at 24-22 and then Chris Johnson hit a jumper in the lane to up it to 26-22. Mitchell hit a second three, followed by a Thornton layup to make it 31-22.
Throw in layups by Johnson and Thornton and the lead was 35-22 at the 4:07 mark. The Tigers would lead, 40-28 at the break.
The Tigers did nothing in the second half that gave the Tide, the only team to beat the Tigers in league play in the opener in early January, much of a chance to come back, opening the lead to 16, 51-35, at the 14:20 mark on a three-pointer by Garrett Temple. The team reached 20, 59-39, at the 10:52 mark on a Terry Martin bucket and the lead reached as much as 23 at 66-43 on a Mitchell lay in at the 7:33 mark.
Thornton had 20 first half points and finished with 22 points and six rebounds on an afternoon when he took only one three pointer (and made it). The scoring in the second half was turned over to Mitchell, who finished with a nice line of 16 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and four steals, and Temple who finished with 10 points and six rebounds.
LSU got 20 points off the bench with Chris Bass and Terry Martin each getting five.
Mikhail Torrance had 12 points and Senario Hillman 11 to lead the Tide.
“We got off to a sluggish start, but we got contributions from everyone coming off the bench,” said LSU Coach Trent Johnson. “I thought Chris Bass, in the first half, was very good. He had energy and made good decision. No surprise to this team or me that once we found out the flow of the game and what adjustments needed to be made, we were able to wear people down. The good thing is down the stretch in the second half after the ten minute mark, we were able to rest a lot of guys and get some meaningful minutes against some good players. Again I like the position we are in, but it’s another game, and we need to get ready to play.”
The Tigers face Mississippi State in Starkville on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in Humphrey Coliseum.
LSU HEAD COACH TRENT JOHNSON QUOTES
Opening statement …
“We got off to a sluggish start, but we got contributions from everyone coming off the bench. I thought Chris Bass, in the first half, was very good He had energy and made good decisions. No surprise to this team or me that once we found out the flow of the game and what adjustments needed to be made, we were able to wear people down. The good thing is down the stretch in the second half after the ten minute mark, we were able to rest a lot of guys and get some meaningful minutes against some good players. When Alabama put their starters back in, I thought it was a good for those guys who hadn’t been playing a lot to get some meaningful minutes. It’s nice to win.”
“Now we need to get off our feet, come back tomorrow at 3 p.m. and head to Starkville, Miss. (Mississippi State) has been playing really well and not to take anything away from anyone anybody in the (SEC) league, and certainly not our basketball team, but I think (Mississippi State) is playing as well as anyone in the league, let alone the country. You talk about setting a school record by making 14 three-pointers in a game and then breaking that yesterday against Arkansas, where they got contributions from three guys coming off the bench who hadn’t played a lot. We need to be ready to guard them when we get off the bus.”
“We have to clear up our transition defense. Alabama ran out on us early and late and one thing I remember about Mississippi State is that they have four or five guys that can really shoot it and stretch you on the perimeter. These are not catch and shoot guys. They are guys that can create their own shot, so there is going to be a premium on us being able to defend probably as well as we have defended all season long. The big guy in the middle causes a lot of problems because you can’t double down on him. Again, I like the position we are in, but it’s another game, and we need to get ready to play.”
On having a 7-1 record against SEC opponents …
“I’d like to be 8-0 quite frankly, but it’s hard not to be pleased. Again, I want them to enjoy this for what it’s worth, but there are so many games left to play. You look across college basketball and you see some teams that are hitting a wall and regardless of what conference they are in, they are starting to have bad stretches and separate themselves. It is those teams that are able to continue to get better and understand that you have to get contributions from everybody. Those are the teams that are going to stay in the hunt, so to speak. I’m pleased today from the standpoint that we won, but also that we got contributions from some guys who hadn’t played a lot and are playing better. That is important.”
LSU PLAYER QUOTES
On how he thought the team played …
“It was a great win. We played a great game. In the beginning, we played a little sluggish but we came back strong. It took us too long in the first half before we started to actually play like a team.”
On if he thinks the team should be ranked …
“Well, our team tries not to focus on the rankings and polls. It is about playing and winning in this conference. It does not matter if we are ranked. I personally like being the underdog. In 2006 when we made the Final Four, we were the underdog. I would rather sneak up on our opponent and win quietly.
On how Alabama prevented him from being a prominent scorer in the first half …
“They came out aggressive. Every time I got the ball, they would guard me with two or three people. I had to make adjustments and pass the ball to the players who were able to make those open shots. ”
On the turning point in the first half …
“We came onto the court without intensity. Coach (Johnson) was a little upset. He took some us out of the game. The second string then went in and helped create the intensity that we needed. We finally started to play and make our plays count in the second half. It was an all around great win for us.”
On if Alabama did something special to cause the sluggish first minutes of the game …
“I don’t think so. We were just sluggish offensively. We were not executing like we know we can. Alabama has been struggling this season and we might have taken that for granted. They stepped onto our court to play a great game, and we had to work hard to get this win.”
On how the team changed from the last time they played Alabama …
“We watched film from the first time we played them this year. Our defense was not as effective as it is now. We made it a priority to make sure that we made progress. Since then, we have made big strides. We still have a lot of work to do, but it is nice to see our hard work pay off.”