LSU coach Trent Johnson used four words to describe LSU basketball’s week.”Two hard-fought victories,” Johnson said. “Two hard-fought victories.”The Tigers picked up a 97-94 double overtime victory against Mississippi State and a few days later earned a come-from-behind victory against Ole Miss, 73-66.   LSU showed the signs of the hard week early in the game against the Rebels, but the Tigers may be rewarded for their efforts soon enough. No. 25 Florida State, No. 24 Ohio State, No. 21 Utah State, No. 15 Butler, No. 13 Villanova, No. 12 Virginia, No. 11 Clemson, No. 6 UCLA and No. 5 Duke all dropped contests last week, and LSU may move into the top-25.LSU received the 26th most votes in last week’s poll.If the Tigers do move into the poll, it will be the first time since Jan. 28, 2006. The Tigers were noticeably outrebounded in the first half of Saturday’s game against Ole Miss.So noticeable that one of the referees told senior guard Garrett Temple when LSU returned to the court trailing, 37-32, at the start of the second half.”He said, ‘You know they had 24 rebounds,” Temple said. “‘Y’all only had 13.'”The Rebels out-rebounded the Tigers, 24-13, in the first half, and the 11 offensive rebounds corralled by Ole Miss gave them 15 second-chance points to LSU’s 0.”We just wanted to guard, and we just wanted to make sure we rebounded the ball and only let them get one shot at the basket,” Temple said.LSU senior guard Marcus Thornton had that in mind in the second half, pulling down all eight of his rebounds in the second frame. He also scored 5 straight points, beginning with a 3-pointer, to spark a 13-0 LSU run with a little more than seven minutes left.”I wasn’t planning on shooting it until Garrett said ‘Shoot it, man, shoot it’,” Thornton said. “It just went off my hands, and it just went in.”Thornton, who finished with 22 points, closed the gap to 59-62 with a layup. LSU senior center Chris Johnson, who was scoreless in the Tigers’ 97-94 double-overtime victory at Mississippi State, hit a jump shot to pull the Tigers within 1 with 4:52 remaining in the game.”Chris Johnson really stepped up down the stretch and made some plays when the clock was running down offensively,”  Trent Johnson said.LSU junior forward Tasmin Mitchell, coming off a career-high 41 points against the Bulldogs, hit two free throws to give the Tigers their first lead of the half.Mitchell finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.LSU was without one of its key players in sophomore point guard Bo Spencer, who sprained his ankle against Mississippi State.”Anytime you lose your point guard, it takes away from your continuity and rhythm,” Trent Johnson said.Temple started at point guard for Spencer, and senior Terry Martin started at the other guard. He scored 11 points and blocked three shots.Temple dished out nine assists to match his season high, which he set against the Rebels in the team’s first meeting on Jan. 17.”As a team, we have a lot of interchangeable guards,” Temple said. “Since they were playing a zone [defense], it was not that tough to run different positions.”—Contact Amos Morale at [email protected]