LSU's Long Shot Arrives

Mitchell Drains Three-Point Buzzer-Beater to Top Aggies: LSU 58, Texas A& M 57

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., March 18 -- If Louisiana State could have picked one shot to save its season, this one might have been dead last on the list. Guard Darrel Mitchell -- a mediocre three-point shooter who had shot poorly all game -- stepped two feet beyond the three-point arc, jumped slightly backward and launched a knuckle-ball shot that arched to almost twice the height of the rim.

The endpoint, though, made it one of the most beautiful shots in LSU history. Mitchell's jumper swished with less than four seconds left to give the Tigers a 58-57 victory over Texas A&M. The Aggies failed to move the ball beyond midcourt on their final possession, and three players fell to the floor as Mitchell grabbed the ball and launched it into the stands in celebration.

The win propelled LSU (25-8) to the round of 16 for the first time since 2000 and stopped the Aggies (22-9) from running off two consecutive upsets in their first NCAA tournament appearance in almost a decade.

"I couldn't really see the shot because I had a big guy in my face," Mitchell said. "I just saw the crowd go crazy. Then I was just like, 'Man, it went in?'"

The Aggies set up Mitchell's heroics by overcoming a seven-point deficit to take the lead when Acie Law hit a pull-up jumper with 16 seconds left. The Tigers called time out, and LSU Coach John Brady designed a play that would ideally allow Glen Davis, the SEC player of the year, to take the final shot.

Davis set a screen for Mitchell and then rolled to the basket, but both defenders followed the 310-pound center. Mitchell, momentarily free, stepped backward and launched his jumper over an outstretched Antanas Kavaliauskas.

"We thought they'd look for [Davis], and we didn't want him touching the ball," said Law, who finished with a team-best 15 points. "They took more of the type of shot we wanted. It just went in."

Almost everything else went according to plan for the Aggies. As usual, they excelled in the stiff, man-to-man defense that has become their trademark. Texas A&M held its opponent to 60 points or less for the 10th time in 11 games. The Aggies trailed, 53-46, with less than four minutes left, but they held LSU scoreless for almost three minutes to take the lead in the waning seconds.

Until Mitchell's jumper, only Davis gave the Aggies trouble. The center scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds. He hit three shots in a five-minute stretch early in the second half to keep the game close.

Several times, he moved in ways usually thought impossible for a man of his weight. He dribbled twice and drove hard to the basket to tie the score with 40 seconds left. He made two up-and-under lay-ups. He skied high above the rim to grab a crucial rebound late in the second half.

Perhaps most impressive, Davis sprinted after a loose ball with about 10 minutes left and dove over the Texas A&M bench in a desperate effort to save it. Two minutes later, he swished a jumper from just inside the three-point line and smiled at the bewildered defender standing in front of him.

"We couldn't stop him, but not many people can stop him," Texas A&M Coach Billy Gillispie said. "He gets to the spot he wants the ball, and then he demands it. We didn't want him touching it at the end."

Said Davis: "Of course I wanted that last shot, but I'd be complaining a lot more if it didn't go in."