LSU men’s basketball coach Trent Johnson wasn’t kidding when he called the Southeastern Conference tournament “a fresh start” earlier this week.Johnson’s No. 20 Tigers (26-6, 14-3) entered Friday’s SEC tournament quarterfinal against Kentucky fielding questions about their lack of defense in losses to Vanderbilt and Auburn.But the Tigers shut down that talk almost as effectively as they shut down Kentucky (20-13, 9-9), winning 67-58 in a defensive slugfest.”They’re the No. 1 defensive team in the league from a statistical standpoint,” Johnson said of Kentucky in a postgame radio interview. “We’ve had their best shot twice now and we’ve been able to answer, so it’s a nice win for us.”The Tigers made Kentucky’s pair of All-SEC selections – forward Patrick Patterson and guard Jodie Meeks – a near non-factor in the game. LSU senior center Chris Johnson and junior forward Tasmin Mitchell harassed Patterson all afternoon, holding him to just 8 points from the field and 15 overall.”Chris Johnson was the unsung hero tonight,” Trent Johnson said. “He was really active. He gave us some timely rebounds, some timely blocked shots and was very impressive.”Meeks, the conference’s leading scorer, was held to 8 points on 3-of-9 shooting from the field. It was the first time Meeks has failed to score double digits all season long.Meeks was covered by LSU senior guard Garrett Temple, the Tigers’ first-team All SEC Defensive selection and member of the 2009 Sports Illustrated “All-Glue” team.”I don’t know why anybody should be surprised. Garrett’s guarded his share of players in his four-year career at LSU,” Trent Johnson said. “Today was a situation where good players — whether their game is offensive or defensive — step up. And that’s what he did for us.”LSU’s defensive performance paved the way for a struggling offense. The Tigers entered the game after shooting 36.2 percent and 32.1 percent in back-to-back losses to Vanderbilt and Auburn, respectively.The Tigers’ shooting percentage improved a bit to 39.3 percent against the Wildcats, and it was enough to see LSU through to the SEC semifinals.Senior guard Marcus Thornton and Mitchell got back to their usual forms on the offensive front. Thornton capitalized on 10 LSU steals on the way to 21 points, while Mitchell turned in 14 points and eight boards.The Tigers put the victory out of reach with six minutes remaining when Temple, sophomore guard Bo Spencer and Thornton drained consecutive 3-pointers to give LSU a 58-42 lead.LSU will face Mississippi State in the tournament semifinals Saturday at noon.—–Contact David Helman at [email protected]