JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- LSU coach John Brady has a nickname for point guard Darrel Mitchell, calling him "The Silent Assassin" since he talks little but kills with big shots.
Now we know why.
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| Darrel Mitchell pulls up and hits a trey in the face of 6-foot-10 Antanas Kavaliauskas for the win. (AP) |
The fourth-seeded Tigers now have a date with top-seeded Duke next Thursday, but the Blue Devils talk can wait for now.
Saturday was all about Mitchell's big shot, preventing a big upset and talk that the Tigers had been tourney failures again.
"It felt real, real good when it left my hand," Mitchell said.
It felt even better once it dropped though the nets, setting off a wild celebration for the LSU bench. But with 3.9 seconds to play, it was tempered for a bit because there was time left. When Texas A&M couldn't get off a shot to end the game, then it was time to dance to the next round.
"We're moving on, that's all that matters now," Glen "Big Baby" Davis said. "We're still alive."
Mitchell has made his share of big shots this year. The best example came in an upset of West Virginia on the road when he made a 3-point shot with 23 seconds left in regulation to tie it, and then made another with six seconds left in overtime to win it.
"I knew Darrel would make the shot," said freshman forward Tyrus Thomas. "He's done it too many times."
Mitchell finished second on the team in scoring during the regular season, averaging 17.3 points per game. He led the team in made 3-pointers with 75, nearly tripling the next highest total.
That 3-point accuracy, plus the big shots and his quiet demeanor, earned him "The Silent Assassin" nickname from Brady.
"He started calling me that during the SEC season," Mitchell said.
That's news to his teammates.
"That's for reporters," Thomas said. "I just know he's a big competitor in a small body."
LSU, which had the best record in the SEC at 14-2, is a team that might not be getting the credit it deserves in this tournament. It's the Tigers, not the Florida Gators or Tennessee Volunteers -- who each had higher seeds in this tourney -- who had the top seed in the SEC Tournament.
This young team also played a brutal non-conference schedule. In addition to the West Virginia game, the Tigers also played at Ohio State, played Cincinnati, Northern Iowa and Connecticut. They lost to all of them except West Virginia, but they gained valuable experience.
What that did was toughen up a young, talented team. So when they hit the regular season, the Tigers were ready for the rigors of the conference schedule.
Mitchell's steady play helped keep it all together. When teams sagged on the wide-body Davis in the middle, Mitchell made the outside shots.
Texas A&M did a good job of bottling up Davis for much of Saturday's game, using two men and plenty of hands to contain him. Davis ended up as the leading scorer for the Tigers with 21, but seven of those points came from the free-throw line.
Mitchell struggled to make shots. He was 1-of-7 before making the game winner. That's why it was surprising to see a play called for him at the end.
After Acie Law made a jump shot to put the Aggies up 57-55 with 18 seconds left, the Tigers called timeout to set up a final play.
They called for "Special." It is a play that they've run maybe once all year. But assistant coach Butch Pierre recommended it to Brady, and he decided to give it a go.
The play is designed for Mitchell to get a shot off a flare, but when the Aggies switched a big man on to him, Mitchell saw something he liked. He dribbled a couple of times, got 6-9 Antanas Kavaliauskas to back off some, creating some space.
When he saw the opening, Mitchell rose up and hit the shot over the outstretched arm of Kavaliauskas.
"I didn't even see it go on," Mitchell said.
You can bet he's the only one associated with the Tigers, fans included, who didn't.
"'Special' is a play for that situation," Thomas said. "It's called 'Special' for a special player to hit a special shot."
And now LSU is truly special, one of 16 teams who will be moving on to the next round.
"The Silent Assassin" made sure that became a reality.
