GREENSBORO, N.C. — One wouldn’t have expected LSU’s hopes of advancing in the NCAA tournament against Butler to fall on senior center Chris Johnson.But there he was, standing at the free throw line in front of nearly 20,000 fans — almost all of them North Carolina faithful screaming for an upset.Up 74-71, Johnson bricked his first free throw. The Greensboro Coliseum seemed prepared for another March miracle — a possible game-tying shot from the Bulldogs.But Johnson’s second shot went in, giving LSU (27-7) the final 75-71 score and the win, making the Tigers the first team to reach the tournament’s second round.”I thought poise was huge from his standpoint and our whole team’s standpoint,” said LSU coach Trent Johnson. “Late in the year [Chris Johnson] was sick, and he was struggling with his confidence, and his teammates and the staff never lost confidence in him.”Butler (26-6) never even got to attempt a desperation heave. In keeping with a defensive LSU performance, sophomore guard Bo Spencer stole the inbound pass to cap the win.”Defense is going to come out key in every game,” said junior forward Tasmin Mitchell. “[The free throw] was a big play, and the defense did come into play.”The end result was the icing on a cake baked to near perfection by senior guard Marcus Thornton.Thornton shot 75 percent from 3-point range while slicing his way through the Butler defense on the way to 30 points, six rebounds and four assists.”I just took whatever they gave me,” Thornton said. “If they were on me, [Tasmin Mitchell] was open, and my teammates were open. I just tried to get them the ball in spots where I knew they could score, and the ball went down for us today.”Thornton shot 67 percent from the field after 5-of-19 and 8-of-17 performances in the Southeastern Conference tournament, earning him his first 30-point performance since Feb. 24 against Florida.”You run into players like that in the NCAA tournament,” said Butler coach Brad Stevens. “As I was watching [LSU] on tape, I thought he was probably a pro. Now I’m convinced of it.”Most of the stories surrounding this Butler-LSU matchup pinned Butler forward Matt Howard as the key to the Bulldogs’ success, and that proved to be exactly right.Howard worked the post against the Tigers all afternoon, tallying 22 points and 8 rebounds. The sophomore gave Chris Johnson and Mitchell fits throughout the game, as he reached the free throw line seven times for 10 points and drew five combined fouls on the LSU big men.”They were doing it all game long,” Trent Johnson said. “They happen to have a multitude of weapons … and we made the decision to leave our post guys on their own. We couldn’t afford to cover off their perimeter players.”Howard’s efforts in the paint gave Chris Johnson his third foul with 16 minutes remaining in the game, but Chris Johnson would have the last laugh. As was the case with Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson, Mitchell and Johnson locked onto Howard together and held him to 1 point in the game’s final minutes.”It was really physical,” Howard said. “That’s just what I expected. I wanted to come in and make sure I was as physical or more physical than they were.”——Contact David Helman at [email protected]