• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Thornton, Mitchell rally LSU past Arkansas

Feb 19, 2009 - 5:50 AM FAYETTEVILLE, Arkansas (Ticker) -- Marcus Thornton scored 28 points and Tasmin Mitchell added 20 with 13 rebounds as 24th-ranked Louisiana State rallied for their seventh consecutive win, a 72-69 victory over Arkansas on Wednesday.

Chris Johnson finished with 12 points, 12 boards and six blocks for the Tigers (22-4, 10-1 SEC West), who are on their longest streak since winning eight in a row to start the campaign.

Rotnei Clarke and Courtney Fortson each chipped in 17 points for the Razorbacks (13-11, 1-10), who jumped out to a 26-9 lead but still suffered their sixth straight loss.

"We had opportunities to win that game, no matter what the time was," Clarke said. "We had a lot of energy on both sides of the floor. We were flying around, showing some passion."

Mitchell took a pass from Thornton and knocked down a jumper from just inside the arc to give LSU a 70-69 edge with 1:43 left in the contest.

Arkansas failed to score from that point on as Fortson missed a layup with 83 seconds remaining. Thornton provided the final margin with 12 ticks remaining, hitting a pair of free throws.

"During the last three to five possessions, I thought our energy and reactions were good," Tigers coach Trent Johnson said. "At this point in the season, it is all just repetition. They know what they need to do and just have to execute."

Clarke had an opportunity to tie the game in the waning seconds but his 3-point attempt was off the mark.

"It wasn't really executed," Clarke said. "We were going to come down looking for something. He made both of his free throws, so we knew we had to make it a tie game."

"It was a tough look, but any look for Rotnei Clarke is probably a good look," Razorbacks assistant coach Tom Ostrom said. "It was definitely contested. If you are another coach, you do not want Rotnei Clarke getting the ball off at all."

LSU had lost its previous two contests in Fayetteville, averaging 56.5 points and shooting just 36 percent from the field during those contests.

"It was an extremely hard fought victory for us tonight," Johnson said. "Arkansas is an extremely talented team, and their youth is going to cause a lot of problems later on in this conference. They have a great skill set and the ability to cause a lot of turnovers."

The Tigers appeared to be heading towards another clunker at Bud Walton Arena as Mitchell scored the team's only points in the first 10 minutes of the game.

"We did not hit any of our free throws at the beginning of the game," Mitchell said. "By the end of the game, though, we improved and that is what won us the game."

But Thornton began to heat up after the Razorbacks opened up the 26-9 advantage with less than eight minutes remaining in the first half. He poured in eight points before the break as LSU cut the deficit to 32-26 at intermission.

"I had to settle down the second half," Thornton said. "I waited until the ball came to me and it helped us to win the game."

The Tigers opened the second half on a 13-4 run to take their first lead of the contest.