In a word, painful. But a plethora of words can be used to describe the 2009-10 campaign for the LSU men’s basketball team. Frustrating. Troubling. Depressing. The Tigers sputtered to their worst record since the 1996-97 10-20 effort. The season was legendary coach Dale Brown’s last at LSU. ”It’s really obvious that we need to get bigger, stronger, quicker and faster,” LSU coach Trent Johnson said in his postseason press conference. “We need to develop our mental toughness and, quite frankly, that started this morning.”Johnson, in his second season at the helm, seemed to be going places after a 27-8 campaign his first year in Baton Rouge, a season that included a regular-season Southeastern Conference title and a loss in the second round of the NCAA tournament to eventual national champion North Carolina. A mass exodus of key players didn’t help. SEC Player of the Year Marcus Thornton, defensive wizard Garrett Temple and block machine Chris Johnson all completed their eligibility. The Tigers started 2009-10 well. Led by senior forward Tasmin Mitchell, LSU won its first three games of the season competing in the NIT Tip-Off Classic. It wouldn’t get much better from there. The three wins advanced the Tigers to the semifinals of the tournament in Madison Square Garden. Johnson’s squad ran into a buzzsaw in the form of Connecticut, whose size and speed were more than too much for Johnson’s undersized squad to handle. The Huskies won, 81-55. Arizona State provided a little less of a test, but still trounced the Tigers, 71-52, to close out LSU’s NIT experience. Four straight wins against in-state opponents and a victory against Rice had LSU’s morale back up after getting embarrassed in New York. The Tigers then traveled to Washington State and Xavier, respectively, and came out with two losses. Junior guard Bo Spencer’s last second shot rimmed out in Seattle, giving the Cougars a 72-70 victory. Xavier was a different story. The Musketeers outclassed Mitchell and company, 89-65. After a win against lowly McNeese State, the Tigers embarked on a 12-game losing streak to begin conference play. LSU would finally pick up a conference win against Arkansas on Feb. 24 in a 65-54 win. ”It’s been a long time,” Johnson said after the game. “I forgot how it felt, to be honest with you.”The Tigers would go on to lose their next two games against Auburn and Ole Miss on the road. Next was Georgia in the last home game of the season. It was senior night for Mitchell, who left LSU the leader in minutes played, third in scoring (1,989 points) and No. 6 in rebounds (950).Mitchell brought 10 family members and was greeted with a thunderous standing ovation as he walked onto the court. He and Johnson embraced warmly at center court, which left Johnson wiping his eyes. He went out in style. It wasn’t a pretty win. The Tigers and Bulldogs shot a combined 33.5 percent from the field in an ugly game. It wasn’t void of drama, either. Spencer pulled up at the free throw line with 19 seconds left and lofted an off-balance jumper. Swish. ”I told Tasmin that I would get him a victory on his way out of here,” Spencer said. “I am proud to get the win and see it come through and play a good game even though it wasn’t the prettiest or best game. We came out to get the victory, and Tasmin got a win at home, so it is a great feeling.”Johnson echoed those sentiments and lauded Mitchell’s actions during a tough season. ”I’ve been doing this a long time, whether as an assistant coach or a player, and sometimes you are fortunate enough to come across a basketball player like Tasmin Mitchell who is very passionate about his school, team and this game and respects his opponents,” Johnson said. “I’m just happy to see him and the team happy.”LSU would go on to lose in the first round of the SEC tournament to Tennessee, 59-49, ending the Tigers’ season. Mitchell came up just 11 points shy of scoring 2,000 for his career. 
__Contact Chris Branch at [email protected]