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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – Collis Temple III figured it was time
for something good to happen to LSU. Then he went out and made sure
it did.
Temple scored five points in overtime and rebounded
Mississippi's desperation shot at the buzzer to give LSU a 78-77
victory over the Rebels (No. 12 ESPN/USA Today, No. 14 AP) on Wednesday night.
|  | | LSU's Ronald Dupree (12) tracks down a loose ball as Mississippi's Jason Holmes gives chase. |
"When it went into overtime I thought, 'Oh, no, here we go
again,' " Temple said. "But we've been playing hard and coming
close. This time we just wouldn't let it slip away."
The win snapped the Tigers' nine-game losing streak and was only
the second in the Southeastern Conference this season for LSU
(12-14, 2-13).
The loss spoiled the chance for Mississippi (22-6, 10-5) to lock
up the SEC West title and set a school record for victories.
"We were really concerned going into the game because they had
nothing to lose," Mississippi coach Rod Barnes said. "When it got
late in the game I just felt like they did a great job hanging in
there."
Mississippi led 77-69 in overtime on a run fueled by 3-pointers
by Jason Holmes and Jason Harrison. LSU cut the lead to 77-74 with
1:34 remaining on a 3-pointer by Temple.
Harrison then turned the ball over and Ronald Dupree scored with
52 seconds left to make it 77-76.
"My mindset was not to give up," Dupree said. "I just knew we
could get it done this time and we did."
David Sanders of Mississippi drove to the basket with 20 seconds
remaining and was called for charging. Temple then hit a long
jumper with 6.4 seconds left, putting LSU up 78-77.
Harrison drove to the basket as time expired, but his shot hit
the rim and Temple grabbed the rebound.
"I went in hoping to draw a foul," Harrison said. "That was
what we wanted but we didn't get it."
Dupree finished with 22 points, 20 after halftime, while Brian
Beshara and Temple each added 16 points.
Rahim Lockhart had 18 points for Mississippi, while Justin Reed
added 17 and Holmes had 13.
The Tigers were 21-of-32 at the free-throw line, while
Mississippi was 6-of-8.
LSU was on the verge of becoming the first team in SEC history
to finish with the worst record in the conference after winning at
least a share of the championship the year before. The worst
previous finish by a defending champion was in 1964 when
Mississippi State finished 11th in a 12-team race.
Last year the Tigers finished 28-6, won the SEC West, were
co-champions of the conference and went to the round of 16 in the
NCAA tournament.
"We were down by eight points in overtime and the majority of
the second half we had two walk-ons on the floor," LSU coach John
Brady said. "It just showed a lot of toughness. We've been around
in a lot of games and we've had a lot of reasons not to play, but
we keep on keeping on."
Reed scored eight points in an 11-2 run to open the second half
as the Rebels took a 50-36 lead four minutes in. Dupree scored all
but two of the Tigers' first 17 points of the half and Torris
Bright's basket with 9:14 remaining tied the game at 54.
Beshara hit consecutive 3-pointers to five LSU a 66-65 lead with
one minute remaining. Lockhart put the Rebels ahead 67-66 with 50
seconds left. Dupree made one free throw to the score at 67 and
send the game into overtime.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
Mississippi Clubhouse
LSU Clubhouse
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