Coming alive

• By GARY LANEY
• Advocate sportswriter
• Published: Mar 2, 2009 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

LEXINGTON, Ky. — The advertised shootout Saturday between Jodie Meeks and Marcus Thornton almost did not materialize.

But at the end of the day, the Southeastern Conference’s top two scorers displayed, if not their best shooting touch, some resiliency to put up big numbers as Thornton’s LSU Tigers beat Meeks’ Kentucky Wildcats 73-70.

At the end of the day, it was a pass from Thornton, who was second in the SEC at 20.9 points per game, that led to a winning shot. But Thornton had to shake off a 3-for-15 start to score a team-high 23 points.

Meeks, a 25.1 ppg scorer for Kentucky, was just 1-for-9 from 3-point range where he usually excels. But with LSU playing him tight, Meeks took the ball to the basket to go 10-for-22 from the floor for 24 points.

At the end, Meeks won the scoring battle with Thornton by a point. But Thornton, with nine rebounds and four assists, had a more complete statistical line and a win that clinched the SEC title for No. 18 LSU (24-4, 13-1).

“He’s a great player,” Thornton said of Meeks. “But I was in tune with LSU. I was in tune with going on the road and getting a win for LSU. Hats off to (Meeks), but I think the best team won today.”

Both Thornton and Meeks had their struggles. Meeks, who had 102 3-pointers entering the game, struggled to find his signature shot, but made a living out of turning the Tigers’ aggressiveness against him on the 3-point line to opportunities for 2-point looks. He made nine of his 13 2-point shots, but his coach thought that statistic could have been better.

“He did a good job,” said Meeks’ coach, Billy Gillispie. “He’s having a hard time finishing plays in the lane. He’s not trying to make the basket, he’s trying to force the foul too much (Meeks was 3-for-4 at the free throw line).”

As tough as it was for Meeks, it was even tougher early for Thornton, who, at one point, was 3-for-15 from the floor while he was being defended most often by Ramon Harris. Thornton is 6-foot-4 while Harris is a long and lean 6-foot-7.

“Their defenders were about 6-7, 6-8 and at times it kind of bothered me,” said Thornton. “But I got in a groove in the second half it felt like no one could guard me, not even if they were 7-foot. I just got it going and we came out with the win.”

Thornton finished 8-for-23 from the floor, but he was 5-for-8 in the final 9:35 as the Tigers climbed back from a 10-point deficit to win.

He found his shot first by catching a pass in the corner and shooting a 3-pointer over Harris. He finished the run mostly with the ball in his hand, at the top of the key in pick-and-roll situations with power forward Tasmin Mitchell

“We let him catch the ball too easily in the corner,” Gillispie said of the shot that going Thornton going. “You can’t do that. He’s a really good player. He beat us off the drive.”