Tigers escape amid Cats’ miscues

Like telephone operators, UK and No. 18 Louisiana State spent Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena making switches.

Back and forth, the teams swapped the lead while switching out starters and reserves, creating mismatched defensive assignments and unusual matchups in the process.

At the game’s end, LSU got the final word. In a close game featuring seven lead changes — six of which came in the game’s final 15 minutes — UK’s A.J. Stewart and Kevin Galloway failed to patch through to each other on one connection, a defensive switch. As a result, LSU junior Tasmin Mitchell had a wide-open look at a tie-breaking 3-pointer with 9.8 seconds left.

Mitchell connected, and the Tigers held on to win 73-70.

The Cats (19-10, 8-6 Southeastern Conference) surrendered a 10-point lead with 9:51 left in the game, which Gillispie attributed to an errant switch on his part.

“When we had a lead, it was similar to the South Carolina game,” Gillispie said, referring to the Gamecocks’ 78-77 win on Jan. 31, in which the Cats also gave up a 10-point second-half lead. “I made a critical substitution during this 10-point lead, which ended up being the wrong guy. That’s what got us in the position we were in, in the first place, and it got us in the end. That was a mistake by me.”

With a 10-point lead and 10:56 left in the game, junior Ramon Harris walked to the bench for a media timeout, clutching his shoulder. Unclear about Harris’ status, Gillispie decided to sub him out.

Although Harris and Stewart were replaced with sophomore Patrick Patterson and junior Jodie Meeks, Gillispie regretted taking out Harris.

“I didn’t know if it was a respiratory problem but he looked like he was having difficulty breathing,” Gillispie said. “I found out later his shoulder had been knocked back. He became available. He never wanted to be out of the game. I should have played him more.”

Gillispie’s misfire at the switchboard lit a fire under Tigers sophomore Marcus Thornton. The SEC’s second-best scorer, Thornton had just eight points in the game so far. In the final 10 minutes of the game, Thornton broke free with 15 points, five rebounds and two assists to help propel LSU (25-4, 13-1 SEC) to the three-point win. He finished with 23.

Patterson said that the Cats did a good job of containing Thornton in the game’s first 30 minutes, but Thornton exploited a mismatch when Gillispie made his game-changing substitution.

“We believe that (Gillispie) saw something and wanted to take advantage of something with the substitution he made,” Patterson said. “It was just a lack of communication down the stretch. A.J. was in, we felt he should’ve been in because he can move his feet on the perimeter, it was just a lack of communication when he put Perry (Stevenson) in.”

Although Thornton took over on the Tigers’ end, Patterson had a say in the game’s final stretch. Patterson led all scorers with 28 points, shooting 12-of-17 from the field.

Patterson scored 10 of those points in the second half’s first 10 minutes, when UK turned an eight-point halftime deficit into that 10-point lead. But when LSU mounted its comeback, Gillispie said the Cats “forgot about Patrick being down low.”

As Patterson asserted himself in the paint, Thornton and Mitchell chipped away at UK’s lead, finally regaining the upper hand with 3:40 to play on a Mitchell 3-pointer.

The Cats and the Tigers traded baskets over the final few minutes until Mitchell’s final blow ultimately decided the game. Until Mitchell fired, it was unclear whether he or Thornton would take the shot — even to LSU head coach Trent Johnson.

“Taz had a decision to make: to pick and pop or to slip. It’s easier said than done when you have two guys that can cause problems, because they can both shoot and they can both put it on the floor,” Johnson said. “It’s not coaching 101. It’s ‘shut your mouth, coach, and get out of the way.’ That’s what that is.”

When Mitchell dialed away, he was unguarded after Thornton set a screen to thwart Galloway’s switch.

The Cats just couldn’t get through to the operator.

“It was pretty tough,” Galloway said. “It’s tough with the crowd yelling and not being able to hear the switch being called.”

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