Staying intense

• By RANDY ROSETTA
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Nov 20, 2008 - Page: 1C - UPDATED: 7:13 a.m.

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After two fairly productive dress rehearsals and a lukewarm opening act, LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson is still looking for some of the things that were missing ingredients for the Tigers a year ago.

Elements like consistency and intensity were things Johnson didn’t see enough of Saturday when LSU began the season by dispatching of Jackson State.

“When I talk about intensity with this group, I’m talking about from start to finish,” Johnson said.

“For us to be successful, we’ve got to bring a lot of intensity defensively and rebounding and not have any breakdowns. We’ve got to bring it every day.”

Johnson wants to see the latter start when the Tigers (1-0) entertain Alcorn State (0-2) at 7 p.m. today in the second game of the first day of the LSU Invitational at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.

Troy (0-2) and Centenary (0-2) begin the day at 4:30 p.m. at the PMAC. The five-team round-robin event also includes Northwestern State (1-1), and each team will play four games in the next 11 days.

LSU and the Demons wrap up the event at 2 p.m. Nov. 30.

For the Tigers, the next few outings represent the latest opportunities to get used to a new system their first-year coach has made clear does not revolve around any one player.

Part of Johnson’s mantra has been with little margin for error, LSU needs all 13 players to contribute.

It was clear the theory took root against Jackson State when Marcus Thornton and Tasmin Mitchell — arguably the Tigers’ best scoring threats — were saddled with four fouls early in the second half.

Instead of searching for answers or panicking, the Tigers took control with those two stars on the bench for long stretches.

“Coach Johnson always preaches that we need all 13 guys,” LSU senior forward Chris Johnson said. “If one guy is in foul trouble, someone else needs to step up. Marcus was struggling, especially with the fouls, and the shots weren’t falling, so someone had to step up and help the team, and that’s what happened.”

Thornton managed only five points in the opener, nearly 15 less the 19.6 he averaged as a junior when he was the second leading scorer in the SEC.